The Elemental Shrines
by Axfangli
Summary: Ash and co find a mountain full of unique earthen Pokémon. Soon, they learn about the formation of the world, and also a rising threat... Contains AAMR
1. The Warped Mountain

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations from Pokémon, which I do not own. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: The place where I live is pretty far behind in the shows. We're still at the Orange Archipelago...!! *curses the local station* So anyway, I decided to write a story quite independent of the official timeline (and I prefer Brock for some reason, so I left Tracey out of the story). I'll also be using some "traditional" anime effects. Okay, I'll shut up now. I hope you enjoy the story! R&R!

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**Ch. 1 – The Warped Mountain**

It was a clear and sunny day. An occasional warm breeze blew past, but other that that, the air was still. Ash, Misty and Brock were trudging along in who-knows-where.

"Are we there yet, Brock?" Ash asked for the third time in that minute.

"No Ash, be patient. We should arrive at the next Pokémon Centre in about fifteen minutes," Brock replied, studying the map he was holding in his hands.

"Isn't that what you said an hour ago?" Ash continued to whine.

"Hmm, it wasn't _me_ who decided to snatch the map from Brock and declare a shortcut," Misty commented, smirking. Togepi trilled cheerfully in her arms, as if agreeing with her.

Ash shot her a poisonous look. "Hey, Brock handed it to me the wrong way up!"

"Pika…" Pikachu jumped off his resting place on Ash's head, not wanting to get in the way of Misty's mallet.

"If you'd _learn_ how to read a map properly, we—"

Brock stepped between the two of them before they decided to claw each other to bits. "Okay, that's enough. Remind me to buy a roll of tape the next time we get to a shop."

Ash and Misty broke off with a "humph" each and they continued their trek in silence.

Brock was the one who spoke up first. "There, the Centre is right behind that bend." He pointed at the path which ran behind a tall cliff which joined with the mountain.

They picked up their pace, eager to get some rest. But then, Brock stopped abruptly, causing the others to crash right into him. "Uh… where's the Pokémon Centre?" He frantically studied the map again. The path had led right to a dead-end in a small space between the rocks.

"See? I'm not the only one who gets us lost," said Ash, grinning smugly. Misty and Pikachu sweat-dropped.

"Brock, this isn't funny!" exclaimed a very tired Misty.

"Uh… I… the map— whoa!" Brock was cut off from his stammering when a building materialized in front of them. It had a large Pokéball above the door. Everyone stared, transfixed.

Ash snapped out of his daze. "Cool! Let's go!" he raced towards the Centre, but Pikachu seemed a bit reluctant.

"Uh… Ash, do you think it's safe?" Misty asked nervously. "It could be a… um… something ghostly!" Her words were ignored as Ash went right through the door.

"Well, I don't hear any screaming, so it should be okay," Brock said, smiling. He walked through the door followed by Misty and Pikachu, albeit hesitantly.

Inside, they were greeted by a magnificent sight. The interior of the Pokémon Centre was exquisitely decorated like a high-class hotel. They met Ash not far from the doorway, staring.

"Wow, this place is so beautiful!" marvelled Misty.

"But not as beautiful as Nurse Joy…" Brock went red in the face and started to drool slightly. Nurse Joy was indeed dressed beautifully. She was wearing what looked like a cross between a nurse's uniform and a ball gown.

The trio walked over to the counter. "Hey Nurse Joy, why's this place so high-classed?" Ash inquired.

"Is there a fancy restaurant here where we can have dinner toget— Ow!" Brock got walloped by Misty.

"Please try not to embarrass us…" Misty stored her mallet. Nurse Joy merely gave a little laugh.

"I'm surprised you've never heard of this place. This is one of the most famous stops for trainers and vacationers alike." Nurse Joy explained. "The mountain exerts a special energy field that has strong effects on Pokémon, even affecting the fabric of space. Scientists are still studying the phenomenon."

"Wait, my father told me about this place. He's been here before. What's this mountain's name again? Warping Mountain or something…?" Brock racked his brains, trying to recall what Flint had told him.

"It's called 'Warped Mountain'," Nurse Joy said helpfully. "But personally, I think it's a strange name."

"Who cares?" Ash interjected. "There's special Pokémon here, I wanna check it out! Can we stay here for a while, Brock?"

"Figures," Misty muttered. Ash ignored her.

"Sure," Brock said. "I'm very interested in the phenomenon myself."

"Woohoo!" Ash immediately raced for the door. "C'mon, guys!" Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Wait!" Nurse Joy shouted. Ash stopped and turned around.

"What is it, Nurse Joy?"

"You are unfamiliar with the mountain's behaviour and the rules of this place. Here, read this." Nurse Joy held out a brochure.

"Huh?" Ash took it and stared at it blankly.

"What's the matter, Ash? Don't know how to read?" Misty commented mockingly.

Brock plugged his ears with his fingers. "Here we go again…"

Ash patted Brock on the shoulder. "Don't worry Brock, I will not allow myself to get into a fight because of an immature pinhead like Misty."

"Why you…!" Misty pulled out her mallet, swung it with full force and knocked Ash silly.

Nurse Joy laughed and turned to Brock. "Are those two a couple?"

"NO WAY!!!" The answer came instantly from both of them.

Nurse Joy laughed again. "By the way, we only have one room left. We're constantly building extensions, but they never seem to be enough. Will you take it?"

"Sure," Brock said. "I can have the bed, and Ash and Misty can work out who takes the couch and who gets the floor."

"Hey, since when did you get to be the one who decides that?" Ash asked indignantly.

"Since I'm the one who's paying, and since I'm in need of a good rest after putting up with your constant bickering." Brock took the keys from Nurse Joy and threw them to Ash. "Go decide now, and I don't want to hear you two fighting over it, okay?" He then turned back to Nurse Joy.

"Now, about that dinner, I— waaaa!"

"Come on, Romeo," Misty sighed, pulling Brock along with her by his ear.

Ash opened the door and stepped into the room, followed by Brock.

"Wow, it's unbelievable that the rates here are the same as any other Pokémon Centre…" Brock examined every little detail of the magnificent room. The floor was covered with pearly marble tiles, the large table in the middle of the room was made of exotic wood, all the chairs had velvet covers…

"Cool, cable TV!" Ash leapt onto the couch and started fiddling with the remote.

Misty sat down beside him. "Slow down, will ya? I can't even see what comes on the screen!"

"Here!" Ash thrust the remote into her hands and took out the brochure. "There's nothing interesting to watch, anyway."

Misty rolled her eyes and channel-surfed at a comfortable pace.

Brock came out of the bathroom, having finished his 'inspection'. "Man, this place is great! We should stay here for a while."

"Nah, according to the map I read just now when we were still outside, the next gym is pretty far away. We shouldn't stay here for too long."

"Or, the map was too complicated for your simple brain and the gym is actually a few minute's walk away." Misty said automatically.

"I never see _you_ doing any navigating!"

"I bet I can read a map more accurately than you when my eyes are closed!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Brock screamed.

They did, but Brock wasn't done. A fire flared up in the background and Brock's head grew larger with annoyance as the other two shrank in fear.

"YOU TWO ARE THE MOST IMMATURE PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET!!! YOU FIGHT OVER EVERYTHING, AND I MEAN EVERYTHING, IN EVERYDAY LIFE!!! YOU'RE EVEN WORSE THAN A MARRIED COUPLE!!! THERE'S NOT A SINGLE _WEEK_ I'VE HAD WITH SOME PEACE AND QUIET!!! IF YOU EVER _DO_ GET MARRIED, CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT WOULD PROBABLY BE BROUGHT CRASHING DOWN BY YOU!!!"

With that, he calmed down and everything went back to normal, except that Togepi had started wailing.

Misty took it out of her backpack and tried to comfort it. "There there, Togepi, it's okay, that was just Brock yelling at Ash for being immature…"

"See why I always get into fights with her?" Ash said to Brock. Misty promptly flattened him with her mallet and continued cooing to Togepi.

"I totally give up. You two are hopeless," Brock said exasperatedly, throwing up his arms. "I'm going outside for a while to check out the rest of the centre." He wore a goofy look on his face as he walked out.

"Probably going to check the Reception area," Ash said, still lying on the floor and twitching.

"Pi!" Pikachu popped out of his hiding place inside a lamp.

"Yeah, Brock the Scare Extraordinaire is gone," Ash told him, grinning. He picked up Pikachu and sat beside Misty who was watching television. Then, he saw that Misty's mallet was still next to her.

"Uh… don't you usually put that away after using it?" he said nervously. Misty glanced at him sideways and said nothing.

"Um… never mind…" he quickly reached for the brochure which had fallen to the floor and pretended to read. Misty gave an evil grin.

"Hey, says here that trainers who wish to train on the mountain must get permission from Pokémon authority, and tourists can rent Pokémon bodyguards!" Ash exclaimed.

Misty moved closer to him, losing her hostility. "Lemme see!" She took the brochure from Ash. "Hmm… well, you can probably ask Professor Oak about that. It's strange that so many tourists would come if it's dangerous enough to require bodyguards…"

"Pi, pipipipi!" Pikachu, who was sitting on Ash's shoulder, pointed excitedly at something.

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash looked at the picture he was pointing at.

"It's a Rhydon," Misty said. "…with metal plating?!!"

The picture showed a Rhydon which looked like any other, except that parts of it was covered in metal.

"Wow…" Ash marvelled. "It would be great if I could catch one like that!"

"Don't get your hopes too high. Look at this," Misty pointed to the article next to the picture.

**_"The energies of this mountain have allowed many unique Pokémon to evolve, particularly ones that are of Rock, Ground, and Steel types. The Rhydon in this picture is one of the most commonly seen and is also one of the most ferocious. Many attempts have been made to capture it, but all have resulted in the Rhydon getting severely aggravated and causing serious injuries to the trainers and their Pokémon. No scientist with their high-tech equipment have succeeded in bringing this Pokémon down, either. All trainers are strongly advised NOT to attempt this."_**

Ash immediately stood up. "No problem, I'll just be the first trainer to subdue it! Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" The yellow rodent tried to look confident, but didn't quite succeed.

Misty shook her head. "Don't you _ever_ change?"

"Well, I _am_ the future greatest Pokémon Master, after all…"

Misty sighed and continued watching television. Ash went back to his reading.

**_"The mountain's effects on the fabric of space allow the local Pokémon Centre to move itself onto anywhere on the mountain. This happens automatically and the building will go to the person who needs it most. No evidence has been found to show the cause of this, but some theories suggest that anyone's panic has effects on the mountain's energy field, which causes a shift in the fabric of space. However, it seems that only the entrance moves. Tests, although rather inaccurate, all point towards the fact that the rooms at remain stationary….."_**

Ash gave up reading and yawned. "This is boring. C'mon, I wanna go out…"

"Aw c'mon, Ash, this show is really interesting!" Misty's eyes never left the screen. Ash glanced at the TV and saw that she was watching a mushy soap opera.

"No thanks, I'll pass…" he slumped back into the couch and handed the brochure his best Pokémon pal. "Here Pikachu, find something interesting and I might read it…" He then proceeded to stare into space.

"Chu…" Pikachu shook his head. He went through the photographs, ignoring the words.

After a while, Misty switched off the TV and got up. "Okay, we can go now."

As if on cue, Brock, bearing a red handprint on his cheek, walked in.

"Um… what's that on your face, Brock?" Ash questioned, grinning.

Brock looked at a mirror. He probably didn't even know that the mark was there until he did. "Oh, um… I went out for a walk, and this strange leaf floated down from a tree I have never seen before. Probably a product of the mountain's energies. Anyway, it was in the shape of a human hand, and was sticky for some reason. It got stuck on my face and I hand to yank it off. It hurt quite a lot."

"Nice try, Brock!" Misty laughed, joined by Ash's sniggering.

Brock huffed. "A—nyway, there's a small town not too far from here. I'm heading over to buy some groceries."

"But we're going to explore the mountain now," Ash told him. "Why don't you join us?"

Brock shook his head. "No, we're out of food, and the restaurant here is too expensive. I'll join you tomorrow. It'll be dark soon."

"Suit yourself. Oh, and get a few bottles of ketchup for Pikachu, will ya? He hasn't had any for quite some time now."

"Pi!" Pikachu immediately leapt to Brock's side. Ash stared at him.

"Hey, what about our training?"

Pikachu kept looking back and forth at his master and the person who's going to get him his beloved ketchup. He felt guilty, but he so desperately wanted a treat. "Pi…" He got all teary-eyed.

Ash laughed. "Okay, you can go with Brock. Just make sure you don't finish all of it before you get back!"

"Pika!" The little rodent instantly looked happy again. He leapt onto Ash and gave him a quick hug, then stood next to Brock again.

"C'mon, Misty!" Ash said, eager to set off on his next adventure.

Fetching their stuff and making sure that the door was locked, the three friends headed off towards the lobby.

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A/N: There, first chapter's all done! I know, nothing's happened yet, but I've nearly finished the next chapter so it should be out in a day or two. Anyway, please remember to review! I think I may have overdone some parts, but what do you think? I'll accept all comments, constructive criticism included.


	2. Entry

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I am just using the characters to write a story.

A/N: Thanks, everyone who reviewed! Here's the second chapter. Enjoy!

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**Ch. 2 – Entry**

"Oh, so you're at the Warped Mountain? Wow, I didn't know you'd get there so quickly. Well, you really must stay there for a few days. Training there would prove more worthwhile than getting a gym badge!" Professor Oak told Ash over the videophone.

Misty laughed. "I think Ash it going to have a hard time swallowing that!"

"Hey!" Ash felt rather disgruntled.

"Anyway, you're going to need a permit to train there. I'll send it over via the item storage system." (A/N: do those exist? I'm not quite sure…)

"Can I go too, Professor?" Misty asked.

"Of course you can. I'm transferring it right now. I'm also sending one for Brock. Say, where is he?"

"Oh, he went to get some groceries." Ash told him.

"That's too bad. Anyway, there's a legend about the mountain you might be interested to hear." Professor Oak closed his eyes and thought for a while before continuing. "They say that steel types originated from that mountain. In the ancient past, the mountain was inhabited by a lone Onix. It is the one what created the cavern system inside. With the help of the mountain's strange energy field, the Onix was able to greatly attune itself to the earth. It absorbed the metals found within, and thus turned into a Steelix. After that transformation, the rest of the Pokémon were able to access the steel element. The legend didn't say how this works, but my guess is that the elements are linked together like a computer network. When that transformation occurred, it gave the 'computer' the 'software' for the steel element."

"Cool, but why are you telling me this?"

"Well, you never know. Most of the Pokémon legends seem to be true…"

Ash shrugged. "By the way Professor, why didn't you tell me about this place before?"

Professor Oak grinned. "Ever since you were little, you're always too over-ambitious. I was afraid that you might do something stupid and get hurt."

Ash groaned. He knew what was coming next…

"There, it's all confirmed!" Misty giggled.

"At least _I've_ got ambitions!"

"Fat load of help they are!"

"Jealous!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

They continued to yell at each other and their voices got louder.

"Now now, kids…" Professor Oak said nervously with a sweat-drop.

"WHAT?!" The two of them yelled at him. It took some time for them to realize what they had done.

"Oops, sorry…"

The Professor sighed. "Well, you had better be going, the sun is setting pretty soon."

"Okay!" Ash said determinedly. "Say hi to mom for us, will ya?"

"Right." The older man nodded. "And please remember to take care!" With that, he hung up.

Ash collected the permits, handed one to Misty and pocketed Brock's. "Let's go, Pika­— oh…" He remembered that the electric Pokémon had gone to the shop with Brock. "Well, come on, Misty…"

They stepped out of the Pokémon Centre and realized that they were quite high above ground. They were on a ledge, and there was a cave entrance nearby. Standing in the way was a huge, burly man, dressed in a black suit.

"Your passes, please," he said gruffly. They showed him the permits and he wrote down their names. "Ash and Misty, is it? Got it."

"Why do you need our names?" Ash inquired, curious as usual.

"Record the people who go in. They might get lost inside or get trapped by a cave-in, ya never know. Never happened before, Pokémon Centre always goes to the rescue, but like they say, there's always a first time…" He grinned slyly.

Misty gulped, but Ash was unconcerned. He suddenly had a thought. "Anyway, if the Pokémon Centre can appear inside, won't people be able to sneak into the caves without a permit?"

"Nup, mountain's smart. Keeps to da rules."

"So, if it keeps to the rules, why do you need to stay here to check people's passes?"

The fellow is starting to get annoyed. "Ya talk too much, kid. That mouth of yerz is gonna bring yer downfall someday. Now go in before I decide ta rip yer passes apart."

Misty dragged Ash into the cave. "He's right. You're gonna regret opening that mouth someday."

There was a source of light in the cave, and it seemed to be everywhere. It's rather dim but it's just enough for them to see things quite clearly.

They walked around for a while, but saw no Pokémon. Ash was getting frustrated.

"Grrr… I do wish we would meet that Rhydon in the picture. It looked really powerful." He then cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "HEY, ANY POKÉMON AROUND HERE? COME OUT AND BATTLE!!!"

Both of them had to cover their ears as Ash's shout echoed around the cave loudly.

Misty whacked him on the head. "Moron! You could cause a cave-in!" She looked around and saw something that made her widen her eyes.

"Something wrong?" Ash asked, rubbing his head.

Misty pointed a trembling finger at something behind Ash and stuttered, "Be c-c-careful what you w-w-w-wish f-for!"

Ash turned around. Standing there, looking none too happy and getting ready to charge, was the steel-plated Rhydon. It was WAY bigger than it seemed in the picture.

Ash remained steadfast. He calmly plucked a Pokéball from his belt. "I choose you, Snorlax!"

The overweight Pokémon appeared. It looked in surprise as the Rhydon he had never seen before, charged, thundering far louder than Ash was shouting just now.

"Snorlax, mega punch!"

However, Snorlax didn't have time to react before Rhydon slammed right into him. Snorlax pushed against Rhydon with all his might but Rhydon was too powerful. It barely slowed down and pushed Snorlax all the way to the other side, leaving two long trails of Snorlax's heel-marks.

Ash and Misty leapt out of the way and watched in horror as Rhydon rammed Snorlax deep into the wall, producing many flying stones and a heavy cloud of dust. Snorlax gave a loud groan and collapsed.

"Snorlax, return!" Ash got angry. He got ready so send out the rest of his Pokémon but Misty grabbed his arm and ran.

"DON'T BE AN IDIOT! THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO MESS WITH!!!"

She dragged Ash along and ran through the tunnels blindly, with Rhydon right at their heels. 

She came to a fork and took one of them without any hesitation, but then stopped suddenly. "Oh, crap!"

They had reached a dead-end. Ash regained his composure and they turned around, only to face a raging rhino. It advanced slowly, glaring at them with menacing eyes.

Togepi chose a really bad time to start wailing. Misty frantically tried to calm it down, but to no avail. Rhydon turned its gaze onto the little egg Pokémon and started moving faster.

Ash got a sudden idea. He removed his jacket and ran towards the end of the tunnel. "Hey, you oversized bully!"

"Ash. What. Are. You. Doing?" Misty asked nervously through gritted teeth.

He held his jacket to one side like a cape and started waving it. "Toro! Toro!"

Rhydon's rage increased by a notch at the sight of the waving jacket and charged. Misty pressed herself against the wall, terrified, while still holding a bawling Togepi.

"Olé!" Ash dramatically pulled his jacket away and Rhydon smashed right into the end of the tunnel, lengthening by several feet. The whole area shook slightly and the ceiling above Rhydon crumbled and buried it.

Ash calmly put on his jacket again. "Learnt that while watching Taurosfighters." He said, grinning.

Misty staggered, still shaking like a leaf, towards Ash and grabbed his collar. "Don't you DARE pull a crazy stunt like that again!" she yelled in his face. Togepi started crying even louder.

A low rumbling sound was heard coming from the direction of the rubble.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. I don't think the Rhydon will be staying there for long," Ash said in a serious tone, brushing aside Misty's outburst.

"For once, I agree with you," She murmured nervously. They hurried away from there, trying to find a way out.

"Hey, you there!" A voice called out.

Ash and Misty turned towards the direction of the voice. A male trainer with moderately long brown hair, slightly older than them, stood there. He was dressed in a plain navy shirt and a pair of jeans. Six Pokéballs hung from his belt. He wore a smug look on his face that reminded them a lot about Gary.

"You wouldn't happen to know the way to the exit, do you?" Misty asked politely.

Brown-Hair laughed. "You obviously don't know too much about this mountain. Weren't you supposed to do some reading before you came in here?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Um…" Ash felt abashed.

He tsk-tsked at him. "I was hoping to challenge you to a battle, but you obviously are a disorganized person. You're probably the one who yelled his lungs out earlier. I won't waste my time on you. Goodbye." He turned around and walked away,

Ash clenched his fists and felt anger rise within him.

Misty grabbed his arm. "Come on Ash, let's just get out of this place…" she pleaded.

Brown-Hair paused and turned around. "Ash… Ketchum?"

"Yeah, and you'd better know it!" Ash replied defiantly.

"I thought you looked familiar. I watched you lose in the Indigo League," Brown-Hair smirked. "Judging by your Charizard, you're definitely a lousy trainer."

That was the last straw. "I managed to take on the far tougher Orange Crew! I'll show you! Go, Bulbasaur!" Ash threw his Pokéball and the green Pokémon appeared. He glared at the other trainer, ignoring Misty's quiet pleading.

Brown-Hair looked amused. "You come in here with a puny BULBASAUR?! Man, I'd DEFINITELY be wasting my time. Well, I'll take you on if you want me to, but only one Pokémon each. And, you can start first. Deal?"

"Deal!"

Taking his time, Brown-Hair slowly plucked a Pokéball from his belt. "Go, Hitmontop!" A fighting Pokémon, spinning on his head, appeared in a flare of red light.

"Bulbasaur, razor leaf attack!"

Several spinning leaves flew towards Hitmontop.

"Hitmontop, spinning kick!"

Hitmontop whirled around at lightning speed, deflecting all of the leaves. Brown-Hair's expression grew even smugger.

"Finish it! Jumping spinning kick!"

"Vine whip!"

Hitmontop leapt high up, spinning as fast as ever. Bulbasaur was slightly fazed by this display, but attacked without hesitation. Twin vines extended towards the whirling mass and somehow managed to wrap around Hitmontop's legs and tangled him up. Off-balance, he tumbled and crashed onto the floor. Everyone waited for it to retaliate, but Hitmontop remained still. He was knocked out cold.

"Great job, Bulbasaur. That was one of the fastest battles I ever had!" Ash gloated, returning Bulbasaur. His moment of glory was cut short by an all-too-familiar roar.

Brown-Hair, however, looked delighted. He took the rest of his Pokéballs and threw them. "Go, Machamp! Golem! Charmeleon! Hitmonchan! Nidoking!

"Time to bail!" Ash grabbed Misty's hand and pulled her away.

"Don't you think we should help him?"

"Nah, he seems perfectly capable of taking care of himself. The worst that could happen is probably a few broken bones, that's all." Ash grinned evilly. "Hey, there's the exit!"

The both of them were relieved to be out of the caves, even Ash. Then, they realised that they were a whole lot higher up than they were at the first entrance. The sky was also considerably darker.

"Hey, I don't remember going up any slopes…" Misty said worriedly. Togepi was finally quiet in her arms. She had managed to calm it down while Ash was battling.

Ash got as close to the ledge as he dared to and peered downwards. The treetops looked pretty small… "Okay, this would be a VERY good time for the Pokémon Centre to show up!" Ash said loudly, directing his words at the mountain. He turned around to see if the Centre came. Instead, something had disappeared.

"Damn!" he swore loudly and sprinted towards the spot where the cave entrance was. In its place was now solid rock.

"The mountain is smart, he says…" he muttered angrily. "Hey, we wanna get back to the Pokémon Centre!" he yelled and punched the rocks. He only succeeded in injuring his knuckles. He gave a loud yelp and clutched his fist.

"Ash, be careful!" Misty scolded him. "I'm also interested in getting back, but hitting the wall isn't going to open any doors." She set Togepi down, wedged between some rocks so that it wouldn't wander off. After telling it to wait, she knelt down and examined Ash's hand.

Normally, Ash wouldn't have liked having to be taken care of, but his hand was in pretty bad shape then. His face contorted with pain, he appreciated Misty's help then. She took out some pieces of tissue from her pocket.

"I don't have any bandages, so these will have to do," She started wrapping up Ash's hand.

Things got worse when the already-dark sky darkened some more and thunder sounded from the heavens. The winds picked up speed and started tossing their hair about, also making Misty's bandaging attempts more difficult.

She had just tied up the last piece of tissue to Ash's hand when she heard something over the howling winds. "Togi! Togi!"

"Togepi?!" She looked around frantically. There, at the ledge, Togepi was tethering precariously, with only one foot touching the floor. The little egg Pokémon was waving its tiny arms about as it tried to balance itself.

Misty screamed and dived over just as a gust of wind blew Togepi over the edge. She managed to grab hold of its shell, but tumbled over the edge herself. "Ash! HELP!!!"

"No!" Ash dived over just like Misty had and grabbed her hand. He strained every muscle in his body, trying to pull her up. Blood started oozing faster out of his wounded hand. Lightning flashed.

"Hurry! Togepi is slipping!!" Misty's voice pitch considerably. She was holding Togepi's shell with only one hand and it was at the wrong angle. It was very difficult to keep her grip. The winds got even stronger, now threatening to push Ash down as well.

Ash let loose a cry and in one mighty yank, hauled Misty up. Then, things seemed to go in slow motion as Misty heaved Togepi upwards in a desperate attempt to keep it from falling. However, her strength wasn't enough to keep it up there for long and Togepi started to fall again. Misty was sent hurtling inwards by the force of Ash's pull, away from the ledge.

As she watched helplessly, Ash made a desperate lunge for the falling Pokémon. Having caught it, he went off balance again, going off the ledge. This time, there was nobody to grab _him_. He plummeted downwards, his scream getting drowned by the winds.

"ASH! TOGEPI! NO!!!" Misty stared in horror at the spot where Ash was just a split second ago.

As if the mountain had a grudge against them, another huge clap of thunder boomed and a heavy torrent of rain descended.

"No…" She whispered again. Completely drained and feeling utterly defeated, she collapsed onto the floor, her tears blending in with the rain.

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A/N: No, I won't be killing Ash. At least, I currently don't have any plans on doing so. But I just might be unable to think of something better to write, so… :-D Anyway, please remember to review!


	3. Mixed Feelings

Disclaimer: Pokémon and its characters are not mine, but this story is.

A/N: Thank you once again for your reviews. This chapter is more towards the fluffy side (I hope I do okay), and is slightly shorter than the others.

* * * * *

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

Ash was clutching Togepi with his bad hand and frenziedly trying to grab hold of _anything_, but he was falling too fast and all he was getting was his fingers' skin scraped off.

"Togi!" Togepi suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, as if nothing was happening. Ash ignored it, but couldn't help noticing a pale blue light emanating from somewhere under his nose.

Then, Ash got the shock of his life when two pieces of rock suddenly protruded out of the cliff face and went right through his jacket, below his arms. His teeth rattled as he was jolted to a halt.

He held the little egg Pokémon up and looked at it in the face. "Hmm… I thought I saw a light just now. Was that you?" Togepi merely trilled in reply.

"Er… you're not Pikachu, I can't really understand you…" he sighed. "Okay, so now what? This isn't a very easy position to get out of…"

No reply. Togepi had decided to take a nap there and then. A deep, rumbling noise came from the sky, and the clouds decided to give him a shower.

"Oh, great!" Ash cried, annoyed. He stuck the snoozing egg in his shirt. "There, that should keep you warm."

After that, he slid one arm out of the jacket and held onto the protrusion, and proceeded to free his other arm. He pulled himself onto the twin jutting rocks and freed his jacket. Looking around, he found that it was too dark to see much and the rain severely hindered his vision.

Just then, the door of the Pokémon Centre appeared next to him. He was surprised but wasted no time pushing it open and clambering inside.

Ash looked around. The lobby was deserted and there was nobody behind Nurse Joy's desk. He was about to sit down to rest when he remembered something more important.

"Misty!" He raced to their room and banged on the door. "Misty? Brock? Anyone inside?" There was no response. He raced back to the lobby and shouted at the door.

"Bring me to where Misty is, NOW!!"

He opened the door. Upon ensuring that there was something to walk on, he dashed outside into the onslaught of the rain and started shouting Misty's name. Having no luck, he tried to find the place where he fell. After a while, he spotted a figure lying dangerously close to the ledge.

"Misty?" he turned the person over and was immediately flooded with relief, but still worried about the fact that her eyes were closed.

Misty opened her eyes slowly. She was still feeling weak and didn't care if she was sent plummeting towards her death as well by the angry Rhydon. But then, she saw a head with familiar spiky hair and immediately bolted upright.

"ASH!!!" They were immediately locked in a tight embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder, not caring what he thought of it.

Ash was slightly startled. Was she shivering from the cold, or was she actually sobbing? He held her tightly for a while longer, shielding her from the downpour, and then gently pried her arms from him.

"Here, I'm sure you're even more worried about this little critter," He took Togepi out of his shirt. It looked cranky, having been awakened rudely by getting soaked and then crushed, but brightened up as it saw the face of Mommy.

Misty hugged the little Pokémon tightly, crying some more and cooing at it despite the fact that the rain was roaring far louder than the thunder earlier.

"Come on, let's get out of this storm." Ash gently urged Misty. She nodded and tried to stand up, but she was shaking too badly.

Ash removed his jacket and wrapped it around her. After putting his arm around her and helping her up, they slowly walked towards the Pokémon Centre, which thankfully was still there. There was still nobody in the lobby, which was rather peculiar, Ash thought.

They reached their room and Misty leaned against the wall while Ash politely took the jacket off her and searched for the keys which were in the pocket. Misty noticed the two large holes in them.

"Um… what happened to your jacket?"

Ash laughed and swung open the door. "Long story. Tell you about it later, you really should change into something dry first."

They entered and Misty told Ash to go change first, for she needed to calm her still-shaking body and regain her strength. He did and she went in. When she came out of the bathroom dressed in her pyjamas, she found Ash sitting on the couch, staring into space.

She sat next to him. "How's your hand?"

He brought it up to his face and looked at it. "Well, the bleeding's stopped, at least."

"Next time, don't pick a fight with rocks," she said with a hint of playfulness. Ash smiled wryly and said nothing.

Misty looked around and saw Ash's wet clothes piled messily on the table. His jacket was on top.

"So, wanna tell me about it now?" she motioned her head towards Ash's jacket.

He told her about what he _thought_ Togepi did. "So, Togepi was probably safer than I was. It could've teleported itself away just like it did on Pinkan Island, and easily avoid death."

Misty stiffened at the last word.

"Oh sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it…" Ash quickly apologized.

Tears started to stream down Misty's cheeks again. "Oh Ash, I thought the both you would've been gone for sure! If you had died, I—"

"Shhh…" Ash cut her off, putting a finger on her lips. "We're all fine, everyone's still alive. Don't think about something bad if it hasn't happened, okay?"

Misty gave a small smile and glanced at snoozing Togepi. It had fallen asleep a few minutes ago.

She felt frustrated. She had kept her feelings for Ash locked away for so long for she was too scared of showing it, and in confusion had subconsciously shoved those feelings aside. She was about to pour it all out, and he had just stopped her. _That's what you get for falling for a dense moron, I guess…_ She thought to herself and put Togepi into her backpack, a bothered expression showed on her face.

"Feeling better now?" Ash asked gently and put his arm around her shoulders.

She smiled, nodding. She rather enjoyed having his arm around her; it made her feel secure. 

An awkward silence passed between the two of them and Ash pretended to stare at the ceiling. He received a jolt when he felt something hit his shoulder. He turned his head and saw that Misty's eyes had closed and her breathing was heavy and regular. Fatigue must have overcome her.

Ash smiled and kissed her gently on her head. "Goodnight Misty…" he whispered softly.

A small smile crept onto her face and she snuggled closer, curling up her legs.

Ash felt his face grow warm and his heartbeat quickened. He gazed at the angel who was sleeping so peacefully, so beautiful… The girl he has a crush on — no, the girl he _loves_. He thought back to all the times they had together, both good and bad. She had been there for him all throughout his journey, giving him support. She liked to pick on the slightest things and bash him with her mallet often, but those were part of the things he loved about her. 

He sighed, wishing that there was a way to tell her, but he couldn't think of a scenario where he would be able to without making her think it was a joke. After all, he liked to say stupid things often.

_But she's sleeping so cosily in your arms; but then, she probably didn't know that she did that; but…_

Ash finally nodded off, his muddled thoughts ceased and he drifted into dreamland.

* * * * *

"Whew, made it!"

A drenched Brock and an equally wet Pikachu looked around the lobby wearily. Nurse Joy was behind her desk, working on something. A lone trainer was sleeping on a couch. He probably couldn't afford a room.

Without even talking to Nurse Joy, Brock trudged slowly towards their room, followed by Pikachu (after he had shaken most of the water out of his fur). Brock held a few soaked bags of groceries, and Pikachu had a half-empty bottle of ketchup.

Brock unlocked the door and stepped inside. He stopped short at the sight of his two friends sleeping so peacefully on the couch, Ash's arm around Misty and both wearing identical smiles on their faces.

Smiling knowingly, Brock just stood at the doorway, watching them. On that moment, watching the simple sign of affection and care the two of them had denied for so long, his wisdom was the dominant part of him. Even if the world's most attractive woman walked past him then, he wouldn't have flinched at all.

Heading into the mini-kitchen, Brock tried his best to dry the groceries and then hid them. He then crumpled up the bags and threw them into the bin.

After changing into a set of dry clothes, he hid his wet ones so that they wouldn't know he had been there. He saw Pikachu still watching the sleeping couple.

"Come on, I think we should give them some privacy, don't you? We can go sleep outside…" he said to Pikachu.

"Cha!" the electric rodent replied, smiling and flapping his ears. He turned around and headed for the lobby.

Brock shot one more glance at his friends and his fingers reached for the light switch. But then, he paused and a mischievous grin replaced his smile. He whipped out his camera, disabled the flash, and snapped a picture. Satisfied, he switched off the lights and walked outside.

"Goodnight, lovebirds…" he said softly, quietly swinging the door shut.

* * * * *

A/N: Wasn't Ash stupid, stopping Misty from confessing? *evil grin* And in upcoming chapters, there will be a whole bunch of sanity-testing cliffhangers, mind-wrenching plot-twists and other unexpected horrors that will have readers screaming in fury and coming after me with scythes, pitch-forks and burning torches. Just kidding. Don't forget to review! ;-)

~Miss-Ashley~ Still hate the "Togepi thing"? :-)


	4. The Earth Shrine

Disclaimer: Pokémon and its characters are not mine, but this story is.

A/N: Yay, keep those reviews coming in! :-) I decided to begin with another semi-fluffy part before resuming… other… events. BTW, just letting you know that this chapter title isn't quite right, but it's the best I can think of.

**Ch. 4 – The Earth Shrine**

Misty's eyes slowly fluttered open. Noticing that her body was slightly stiff, she was getting ready to stretch a bit when she realized that something wasn't quite right.

She became aware of a comforting warmth around her, and a rhythmic breathing that was much closer than what she was used to.

Startled, she cleared her mind a bit and began paying more attention to her surroundings. She gulped when she recognized the fabric of Ash's shirt. It was mere millimetres away from her face. Actually, she was leaning on it…!

Blood rushed to her face and her heart started hammering like mad. She felt completely giddy and her mind was screaming an entire train of things.

_'Okay, okay, calm down…'_ she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, repeating the process until she didn't feel like running around in circles and screaming her head off anymore.

_'First of all, what happened?'_ She asked herself and thought back, trying to remember. She recalled being beyond panic over the whole incident about Ash and Togepi going over the cliff… A lump formed in her throat at the mere thought of that… And then she remembered finding Ash perfectly safe; they returned to their room and talked for a while; she couldn't control herself and started crying; Ash reassured her; and then…

Misty frowned. And then what happened? She couldn't remember. _'I probably fell asleep then, right on… top…… of……… him………………'_ Her mind slowed to a screeching halt. '_Oh crap, WHAT THE HECK HAVE I DONE?!!'_

But then, she found herself feeling excited. _Hey, he stayed here with me! Does he like being with me?_ However, she realized something that dimmed her hopes a little. _'Oh…'_ She had pinned Ash against the end of the couch, with no any way of getting up without disturbing her. _Maybe he just didn't want to wake me…_

She sighed. _'How I wish she can know for sure…'_

Something caught her eye. The clock on the bedside table read 4:30. _'Wow, what woke me up at this hour?'_

Misty decided to get some more shuteye. And although she enjoyed being curled up next to (on) Ash, her legs felt cramped so she finally got around to doing a bit of stretching and let her legs down onto the floor. Not even remembering that beds existed, she just closed her eyes, listened to Ash's faint but soothing heartbeat and let it lull her to sleep.

* * * * *

Ash yawned and opened his eyes. Looking down, he saw Misty, still sleeping serenely. He tried his best to get out without disturbing her. It wasn't too difficult, since she was further away than she was the night before._ 'Or was that part all a dream?'_

He glanced at the clock. Almost 6:30. He put Misty's sleeping body in a comfortable position and went off to find a blanket. Returning with one, he covered her with it.

Yawning again, he instinctively homed in on the refrigerator, looking for food. As he passed the wastebasket, the crumpled grocery bags inside the bin caught his eye. Ash felt like he had been his by a thunderbolt. _'BROCK!!!'_ He groaned inwardly, knowing that he and Misty would probably become victims of Brock's teasing for a whole week, at the very least.

He lost his appetite (A/N: Is that possible? :-) ) and went through his bag, looking for dry clothes. The set he was wearing before had begun to smell musty since he didn't hang it out properly. He changed in the bathroom and closed the door slightly too loudly when he cam out.

"Ash?" Misty's voice rang out, sounding like she was still half-asleep.

_'Whoops, I shouldn't have made such a noise…'_

Ash went back to where Misty was. "Morning!" he said cheerfully, trying to hide his nervousness. _'Does she know what happened?'_

Misty, who was sitting up then, rubbed her eyes and glanced at her backpack where Togepi was.

Ash sat down next to her and put his arm around her on impulse. "Um… I hope you're not still upset about the… incident…"

'_Boy, he seems to be doing that quite a lot now. Not that I'm complaining…'_ she silently giggled to herself. "Well, you can't expect me to get over something like that within a day…"

"Oh, sorry. Stupid me…" Ash suddenly became very self-conscious and withdrew his arm.

"Anyway, thanks for… everything…" Misty added quietly, giving a sincere smile.

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for…" He immediately bit his tongue. '_Stupidstupidstupid!'_ he kicked himself mentally.

Misty felt a wave of disappointment, but didn't show it. "By the way, where are Brock and Pikachu?"

Ash's head snapped up. "Ohmygod, I forgot all about Pikachu!" With that, he dashed out the door.

Misty stared after him quizzically. What could possibly make him forget about his very best friend in the whole world? _'Maybe…'_ She smiled a silly smile to herself, feeling her hope rising again.

She quickly changed, grabbed her backpack and the keys and ran after him. "Ash, wait up!"

Outside, Misty found Ash doubled over with laughter. When she saw what he was laughing at, she couldn't help but join in.

Brock was lying on a couch with one arm and one leg hanging loosely. His head was to one side, and a large wet spot under his open mouth was plainly visible.

"Oh Nurse Joy, you're the greatest person in the whole wide world…" he mumbled in his sleep, barely audible. With that, he rolled over and fell right on top of Pikachu, who was curled up in a ball on the floor.

"Pika-CHU!!!!!!!" The yellow Pokémon automatically released a thundershock.

"Ow…" Brock lay on the floor, smouldering. Pikachu was rubbing the back of his head, apologising.

"That's what you get for stealing my Pokémon, Brocko!" Ash grinned and walked over, with Misty trailing behind.

Brock feigned anger and turn his back to them, folding his arms. Grinning, he muttered in a low voice but made sure it was loud enough for them to hear, "I have the decency to give you two some privacy, and you accuse me of stealing!"

Ash and Misty coloured deeply and didn't dare to look at each other. Pikachu laughed at them, earning a glare from Ash which was ignored.

"H-hey, what about getting some grub? I'm starving!" Ash tried to change the subject.

"Typical, always thinking of food," Misty failed badly at using her usual insulting tone.

This just made Brock grin even wider. "K, let's go back to the room and I'll cook something!" he said cheerfully.

"Wait, my Snorlax took a rough beating yesterday. I'd better go see Nurse Joy. You two go ahead, I'll catch up." Ash hurried off to the medical part of the Centre to look for Nurse Joy, who wasn't at her desk.

He found her coming out of the Intensive Care Unit, looking very tired. Following her was the trainer he had battled. He was wearing bandages in several areas. Nurse Joy was telling him off for going after the Rhydon.

Brown-Hair's eyes widened when he saw Ash. "What do you want?

Ash handed a Pokéball to Nurse Joy. "My Snorlax took quite a beating when I used it to fight the same Rhydon. Could you look at it, please?" he said politely.

Brown-Hair and Nurse Joy stared at him in disbelief.

"What about the rest of your Pokémon? And yourself? I don't think you'd be able to keep the Rhydon at bay with only a Snorlax," Nurse Joy was sceptical.

"_You?_ Fight the Steel Rhydon? That's a good one!" Brown-Hair snorted.

Ash ignored the insult and turned to Nurse Joy. "Yes, I realized that the Rhydon was too powerful after I saw Snorlax get defeated, so I used my superior brain to outsmart it."

Nurse Joy took the Pokéball. "Okay, I'll do what I can. I'm not interested in the exact details right now. This trainer kept me up all night… He's extremely lucky the Centre showed up when it did." She walked into the examination room.

"By the way, I didn't quite get your name," Ash said to Brown-Hair.

"What, not even a handshake to offer?"

Ash held up his bandaged hand. "Fighting tough Pokémon with your own bare hands isn't very easy." He figured he wasn't quite lying, since what he said was true, and he didn't say that's how he got injured.

"Go away, I need my rest."

Ash scowled and felt an insane urge to beat some manners into him. He got ready to lunge when…

"Chansey!" Nurse Joy's assistant came along and tugged Brown-Hair's sleeve, telling him to follow her. Brown-Hair smirked and walked next to Chansey, leaving Ash to fume.

Annoyed, he went back to room, but all murderous thoughts left him as soon as he took one whiff of the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen.

"Wow Brock, that smells great! What'd you make this time?" He asked, sitting down opposite Misty at the table, forgetting the tense atmosphere between them earlier.

"Right on time, Ash! Here's Brock's Brilliant Broth. And that's just for starters!"

* * * * *

"I'm stuffed…" Ash moaned, lying on the table.

Brock had gotten bored waiting for Ash to finish his breakfast and had gone exploring the mountain.

"Having three servings of what you took can't be too healthy," Misty reprimanded him. Ash merely groaned in reply.

Misty sighed and told Ash to do his own washing up when he was able to move. She decided to go through the brochure which Ash had neglected. Pikachu watched TV. After a while, Ash returned to his normal, active self and wanted to do some training.

"I don't know, Ash, this place is a bit too dangerous for my taste…" Misty said worriedly.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. C'mon, Pikachu!" Pikachu gladly obliged.

As the two of them walked out the door, Misty glanced in their direction. _'I think I'd better follow him to make sure he doesn't do something stupid again!'_ "Wait, I'm following you!"

Ash went to see how Snorlax was doing.

"Your Snorlax didn't suffer any serious injuries. You can take him back now." Nurse Joy smiled. Dark rings can be seen under her eyes.

"Thanks," Ash said, taking the Pokéball. "By the way, how's that brown-haired trainer's Pokémon?"

"Come on Ash, let Nurse Joy rest," Misty tugged him, irritated.

"It's okay," Nurse Joy told them. "Well, all his Pokémon are in very bad shape. The Machamp's the worst. All his arms are broken." She shook her head. "If people continue to be reckless, we may have to find a way to get rid of that Rhydon, or close this place to the public…"

"Pika…!" Pikachu was visibly frightened.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid." Ash reassured the yellow rodent.

Nurse Joy smiled. "That's a wise thing to say. Anyway, are you SURE you fought the Steel Rhydon?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he decided to use Taurosfighting techniques…" Misty said, earning a gasp from Nurse Joy.

"Hey, I had everything planned out. I knew that at the velockiddy it was travelling, it would cause the ceiling to collapse on it." Ash bragged. Misty, Pikachu and Nurse Joy sweat-dropped.

"That's velo-CITY, Mr. My-Vocabulary-Is-Way-Smaller-Than-My-Big-Head." Misty dragged him away, embarrassed.

Nurse Joy laughed. "You two be careful, now!" She then promptly fell asleep.

* * * * *

A Meowth hot-air balloon hovered high above.

"Hey, the tweirps just went inside that cave," Meowth reported, watching through his binoculars.

"Drat, we can't execute our plan if they're inside!" Jessie said.

Just then, the screen of their comm-unit (A/N: Whadevayacallit) turned on. A sinister face showed on it. "How's your mission to capture Pikachu?"

"Uh… very good sir. We are just about to execute our greatest plan yet!" James lied nervously. "By the way sir, may I have a well-deserved vacation when we get Pikachu? I thought I just saw a Pokémon Centre vanish into thin air!"

Jessie and Meowth were keeping out of the way of the comm-unit. Their eyes were wide with terror at what James just said.

However, Giovanni's eyes lit up. "So, you're at the Warped Mountain… Wait, where are your bumbling partners?"

"Right here, sir!" They popped out of their hiding place.

"Now, listen carefully. I want you to suspend your hunt for Pikachu, for now. There are bigger fish to fry. I want you to get me the Ancient Steelix…"

"But sir, isn't that something out of a children's fairy tale?" James asked. Meowth discreetly reached over and gave him a swipe with his claw. "Ow!"

Giovanni's face loomed nearer to the screen menacingly. "Do you question my orders?"

"No sir! Not at all!" The three of them shook their heads furiously.

"Good. Now, go to the nearest Rocket base in the forest. There's some equipment I want you to pick up…"

* * * * *

"…and did you know that there is a list of Pokémon you are allowed to capture? And also, did you know that…"

Ash plugged his ears but it was futile. Misty's lecturing voice still reached him.

"Hey look at that!" he saw something which gave him the chance to try distracting her.

"Huh, what are they doing?" Misty asked, puzzled.

In the cavern, different types of Digletts and Dugtrios were popping up and down. Most were normal, but some had rock skin and others had steel.

"Cool, an arcade!" Ash said stupidly.

"Dig!"

"Trio!"

"Pikapi?" Pikachu conversed with the others for a while and turned to Ash. "Pikachu, pikapika, pi, pika!"

"Huh? They want to play?"

Pikachu nodded.

"Okay, target practice! Low-powered thundershock!"

Sparks flew from Pikachu's cheeks and soon, he was shooting beams of lighting at the mole Pokémon, who were pretty good at dodging.

"I think I'll let my Staryu join in!" Misty reached for her Pokéball.

"Wait! Water will hurt them badly!"

"Aw…" Misty pretended to pout.

After a while, they waved goodbye to the Digletts and Dugtrios and went on their way. Ash fought some wild Pokémon, but didn't meet any that he considered worth catching. They also met a few other trainers. Even Misty joined in. The two of them had just won a joint battle and were dancing around when an all-too-familiar bellow got their attention.

"Pi!" Pikachu didn't look too calm just then.

"Oh no…" Misty instinctively held Togepi tightly.

"RUN!!!!" Ash picked up Pikachu, set him on his shoulder, grabbed Misty's hand and sped away. The ground shook as Rhydon's feet pounded it in the pursuit. 

"Ash look out! DEAD END!!!" Misty screamed, trying to pull him back.

"Huh? WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ash braced himself for impact. He hit the wall and…

…tumbled right through it, dragging Misty along and sending Pikachu rolling off his shoulder.

"Wha?" Ash rubbed his head, dizzy. He looked up and saw a huge man, dressed in only a loincloth.

"Greetings, Chosen One. I've been expecting you."

* * * * *

A/N: What is Giovanni up to? Did I even need to ask that? Okay, what mission is in store for Ash this time? What terrible things have happened to Brock? Find out in… *drumroll* Chapter five! *dodges flying rotten eggs and tomatoes* Geez, can't I be melodramatic if I want to? *Sigh* this chapter didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped. Anyway, please remember to click that review button!


	5. Revelation

Disclaimer: Pokémon and its characters are not mine, but I do own this story.

A/N: Whew, I FINALLY managed to get this one posted. Annoying, really. I took a break from writing and when I decided to complete it and post it, the uploading feature had been disabled although it was still okay a few hours earlier. Then, I was delighted to find out that it was fixed, but the login was disabled. After that, I ran into some problems with my phone line and when I returned, the whole site was down…

Okay, enough of my ramblings. On with the story! Anyway, get ready for some _slightly_ strange (depends on your PoV) storytelling. Not much happens in this chapter, but please read on nonetheless.

**Ch. 5 – Revelation**

"Urgh…" Ash mumbled, trying to get himself orientated. "I thought that the title only applied to the incident with the crazy Pokémon collector?"

The giant laughed. "You are mistaken. Chosen Ones are the people who have the ability to help rid the world of whatever threatens it, and also to change it for the better. Some Chosen Ones have only one task to perform during their lifetime, some have many. There are also times when centuries pass without the need for a Chosen One."

Ash stood up. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that they were standing inside a huge cavern, as high as three Onixes  stretching upwards. How this place could fit in the mountain, he had no idea. "Oookay… so what weird mission task do I have to go on this time?" he inquired.

"Nothing," the giant replied, looking amused. "Anyway, please have a seat." He waved his hand. To the trio's amazement, three pieces of the rocky ground grew upwards and shaped themselves into crude chairs.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Misty wondered, sitting down. Ash did the same, and Pikachu took the small chair in front of him.

The colossal man made a chair for himself. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Guardian of the Earth Shrine. You can call me Sakhr." He extended his hand. Misty shook it, slightly nervous. His hand felt as solid as rock. He also allowed little Togepi to shake his index finger. He then turned towards Ash, who held up his bandaged hand sheepishly, not shaking it.

Sakhr raised an eyebrow. "You should learn not to release your anger upon rocks." Misty and Pikachu laughed. He waved his hand again. This time, a pillar rose up from the ground, carrying a stone basin. The basin filled itself with what looked like bubbling mud. "Put your injured hand inside."

Ash removed the bandage and nervously dipped his hand inside, wondering if it's boiling. The liquid felt surprisingly cool and soothing. When he pulled it out, his hand looked as good as new. The pillar returned into the ground.

He was about to thank Sakhr when the whole place started to quake. The shaking rapidly grew more violent.

"What—" Misty was cut off by a loud explosion. Everyone brought their arms in front of their face to shield themselves from the flying debris.

"Prepare for trouble!"  
"Make it double!"

The smoke cleared, revealing Jessie and James standing on a gaping hole at one side of the cave wall. The sky can be seen through it.

"To protect the world from devastation!"  
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"  
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"  
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" The red-haired Rocket member leapt down onto the floor.  
"James!" Her partner followed.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"  
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth appeared out of nowhere, bringing along a strange-looking contraption.

Jessie immediately took command and looked straight at Sakhr. "All right, we are here to—"

"IT'S THE TWERPS!!!" James screamed when he noticed them standing behind the giant.

"What do you want this time?!" Ash demanded, stepping forward. The three Rocket members stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Y-you're not supposed to be here!" James said, pointing a trembling finger at them.

Jessie regained her composure and pushed him away. "As I was saying, we are here to get the Ancient Steelix. The boss told us to put off the Pikachu mission for a while, but we came prepared, just in case _you_ showed up."

"Yeah, we'll be the bwoss's favourite when we bring him an extra package!" Meowth whipped out a remote control.

Ash opened his mouth to shout something, but Sakhr stopped him with his hand. "So, you want the Ancient Steelix?" The giant's voice was calm but still influential. "Very well, here it comes!"

A large part of the floor suddenly seemed to liquefy. A colossal steel snake rose from it as smoothly as though it was gliding through water. It stared down at the quivering Team Rocket with eyes full of wisdom and power.

Ash took out his Pokédex.

"Steelix, the steel snake Pokémon, the evolved form of Onix. Its body has been compressed deep underground. As a result, it is harder than diamond."

"That's not quite right…" Ash frowned. The picture on the Pokédex did not match what he saw above him. The Ancient Steelix did not have a segmented body, but a long, snake-like one which seemed a lot like liquid metal. It looked far more majestic and its face was less ugly. It also had a scythe-like horn was on its head where Onix's is, and a ring of symmetrical spiky protrusions of various length around its neck.

Several seconds of silence and Team Rocket's shaking passed before Jessie came to her senses. "FIRE!!! AND GET PIKACHU AS WELL!!!"

"Pikachu, stop them with your thunderbolt!" Ash instructed.

"CHUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!" Pikachu released a bolt of electricity at their machine.

"No you don't!" Jessie stepped in front of the bolt and held out an electric-proof shield. The bolt fizzled uselessly against it.

James had activated the machine and a red beam shot out, engulfing the surprised Steelix. It roared and tried to get away, but the beam was slowly pulling it into the machine like a slow-motion Pokéball. Meowth pointed the remote at Pikachu and pressed the button. A trap sprang out of the ground beneath Pikachu, enclosing him inside a container.

"NO!" Everyone cried. As for Team Rocket, they were laughing and dancing around gleefully.

Ash had a sudden brainwave.

"Go, Snorlax!" he threw the Pokéball high up and towards the laughing trio.

Snorlax materialized above them. They barely had time to scream before the 1014-pound Pokémon came crashing down on them, also crushing their Steelix trap in the process.

Ash calmly walked over to where Meowth's paw was sticking out. He snatched the remote from him and released Pikachu, who leapt up and hugged his trainer. Ash glanced towards Sakhr. The Guardian gave him a nod.

"Snorlax, return!" Ash recalled his snoozing Pokémon. The fall hadn't affected it at all. Team Rocket climbed out of the small crater.

"Alright twerp, you're going to pay for—"

Steelix's mighty tail came down and swept the trio out of the hole from which they had entered.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaain…!"

Team Rocket landed on top of a tree. Their mangled machine crashed onto the ground and broke into multiple pieces.

"The bwoss ain't gonna like dis…" Meowth muttered. The other two merely sighed in defeat.

* * * * *

Some distance away, a man sat in the shadows, watching the viewscreen.

"The seed has been sown…"

* * * * *

"Breath of Earth!" Sahkr commanded. The Ancient Steelix opened its mouth and breathed out a brownish mist. The mist floated over to the hole and turned into part of the earth, filling it up. It was as if the hole never existed.

"Those three never learn," Misty said, shaking her head.

Ash was gazing at the steel snake in awe. "So the legend _is_ real…"

"Yes, it is. But there is more to it than you currently know. I will tell you a story," Sakhr paused. "But I'm sure your other friend would also be very interested… should I bring him here?"

"Can you do that?" Misty asked.

Sakhr smiled and said nothing. He looked up at the ceiling. A long tube grew down from it until it nearly touched the floor. Quite soon, they heard a male scream and Brock unceremoniously slid out, crashing onto the floor. His Geodude followed and the tube retracted into the ceiling.

"Hi, Brocko!" Ash greeted him cheerfully.

Brock stared at Sakhr and the Ancient Steelix in fear. He tried to say something but his words came out incoherently. He managed after a few seconds. "Um… did I do something wrong?" He glanced at the Pokéball he held in his hand. "The ground beneath me just opened up as soon as I captured this rock Dugtrio…" The others laughed.

"No, you did nothing wrong, my friend. But the Dugtrio is one of my many children. Make sure you take good care of it." Sakhr told him good-naturedly. "I was just about to tell a story, and thought that you might like to join us."

Brock glanced at Ash, Misty and Pikachu. He felt slightly more at ease, seeing that they seemed calm enough. Another stone chair rose from the ground, and he was told to sit.

He did, but still looked at the others quizzically. Ash merely shrugged and told him that everything is fine.

"Uh… by the way, where's your jacket, Ash?" Brock asked, some edginess still clear in his voice.

"Long story," Ash and Misty said together, repeating Ash's earlier words. They looked at each other and laughed, while Brock and Pikachu smiled to themselves.

When they had calmed down, Sakhr closed his eyes and seemed to go into a trance. Everyone waited silently. Even Togepi was completely still, and so was the Ancient Steelix which still loomed above them.

Sakhr began his narration. The listeners too closed their eyes and let his resonant voice paint pictures in their minds. 

"There are many worlds. Old ones die out, new ones take their place. Sometimes, an entire world is completely changed by the effects of others. Their natures are completely different from each other. Even I do not understand the other worlds, as I am of this one alone.

"This world was born a world of the unyielding element of Earth. It stayed completely tranquil for a long, long, immeasurable *time*. Nothing thrived in it, nothing disturbed it. But the tranquillity was perturbed when the wild, raging element of Fire invaded it. The Earth was calm and strong, and it managed to resist off the attempts of the Fire to change it. However, the Fire was persistent, and sought to take control.

"The Earth called upon the placid element of Water to assist it in holding back the wild Fire. The Water fought the Fire actively, rather than passively like the Earth. In the clash, the unpredictable element of Air was born. However, All was balanced. The elements were neither winning nor losing. This was the way things were for another long length of *time*.

"Then, the world as you now know it began to form. The Earth, original master of this world, held the others. It had successfully contained the violent Fire. The Water spread out and covered most of the Earth in order to suppress the Fire if it manages to break out. The Air merely lingered above the others, not getting involved with the conflict. The Earth extended parts of itself upwards into the realm of the Air to watch over it.

"Not long after that, the world shifted towards the formation of life and the Temples of the elements formed. One Guardian was assigned to each temple to control the elements and to oversee the development of the world. The Guardians were formless then. A new element surfaced: The element of Life.

"The first creatures emerged from the invigorating Water. With new beings in the world, the established total balance between the four elements was disturbed. The Air took in the ferocity of the Fire and thus the element of Electricity was formed. To compensate, the Water acquired the stillness of the Earth and produced the Ice. The Earth, needing to maintain control, strengthened itself and created the Rock.

"The creations of the element of Life began to spread out all over the world. There were only two different few species at first. Their energy type manifested themselves as elements: The Insect and the Plant. Then, the element of Life did more than give life. It created a new genus of beings. One of them, the basis for 70% of the other species, still lives, genetically unstable yet unchanged by the evolutionary forces. You humans call it 'Eevee'. The Life-forms absorbed the elements, and the creatures you call Pokémon emerged.

"The world has become an elemental world. Almost everything becomes an element here. Even the art of Fighting became one. Soon, the Dragons, the oldest beings of this multiverse, settlers of numerous worlds, were attracted by this world. A small part of them came over to inhabit it. A few nomadic beings followed and became the element of Ghost. With all the different types of energy, Psychic energy came about and was also manifested as an element.

"Alas, all the activity caught the attention of the invader of this multiverse, which in turn made its presence known in this world. The origins of Darkness cannot be traced, as even the mighty Dragons do not have the ability to transcend this cluster of worlds. The Darkness attempted to convert all the other elements to aid it in its conquest, but it had arrived at a time when the world is strong and unbending. It was unable to achieve its goal, but it managed to distort the most vulnerable of the High Elements: Water. As a result, the damaging element of Poison was formed.

"The Darkness also managed to manifest some of itself as an element, which was absorbed by the susceptible Eevee and passed on to the rest of the world. However, only the abilities were transferred. Nothing turned evil straight away, but a mark has been left.

"A species of Psychic creatures was stripped of their abilities. Not completely, some of the power still resides in them, but cannot be easily harnessed. They lost their ability to understand the other Pokémon as well

Sakhr's voice ceased. Ash and his friends opened their eyes and Togepi started looking around again.

"Is that it?" Ash asked, earning a whack from Misty.

Sakhr smiled. "The story continues. The next chapter has not been written yet, but will soon be."

"What about the steel element?" Brock inquired, looking up at the Ancient Steelix.

"Just the Earth strengthening itself some more. It's a recent addition, formed only several million years ago. But there's an even newer element which you've already come across in the Orange Islands. It's the marriage of Ice and Rock"

"The Crystal Onix!" Misty exclaimed.

Sakhr nodded. "There are already a few small crystal Pokémon living in that cave, hiding from the rest of the world for now. In a few more centuries, there should be many types all over, joining the others in the world."

"Tell us more about the temples," Misty requested. "And you also said that you are the guardian for the earth shrine. Are there any connections?"

Sakhr did not answer immediately. "Yes. The Temples were created to actively regulate the elements when the world was young. Now, the elements mostly regulate themselves, and our old duties were passed on to the Ice, hybrid of Water and Earth, and to the Lightning, hybrid of Air and Fire. However, the Fire still wanted to be involved, and we allowed it. The Fire has tamed considerably since its first appearance in this world. We still have an influence on the world, like the space-warping effects of this mountain, but it's lesser now. Therefore, we are now passive Shrines."

"Where are the other Shrines?" Ash asked excitedly. "I can't wait to visit them!"

The Guardian smiled sadly. "That, I am not allowed to tell you. I am bound by the rules of the Covenant. You will have to find them yourself, Chosen One."

"Well, in that case, tell us some more secrets about Pokémon!"

"Tomorrow, perhaps. It is not wise to tell you too much at once."

Ash looked disappointed, but decided to make use of the rest of the time. "Okay, then let's go do some more training! Care to join us this time, Brock?"

"Sure. Actually, I would've waited for you the first time if you weren't too busy trying to fill that bottomless pit you call your stomach."

"Hey!"

* * * * *

The Guardian watched the three of them walk out of the tunnel which then sealed itself behind them. He made the stone chairs sink down below the surface and sat on the floor, cross-legged. His eyes turned towards the steel snake which stayed completely still.

With one thought command, the illusion of the Ancient Steelix fades into nothingness.

Closing his eyes and folding his arms, the Guardian pondered about the disturbing escalation of the presence of Darkness. After a while, he gave a sigh.

And then, his body, too, faded into nothingness.

*********

Disclaimer 2: The story of the elements told by the character Sakhr is completely fictional. I will not be held responsible for any failed science exams.

A/N: So, whaddaya think? Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to guess/know the location of ONE other Shrine. I've put quite a lot of clues (far more than I had originally planned, actually). However, 2+2 might not equal 4 in this case, but it doesn't really matter. Also, it just MIGHT be possible to guess the location of a second one. But as for the last Shrine, even I have no idea where to put it just yet.

Make a guess! Include it in your review ::hint, hint:: :-) I prefer it 99% review to 1% guessing game.

BTW, in case you got confused, I just feel that 'shrine' sounds more passive than 'temple', but I'm not completely sure if that's the way it's used. Also, Sakhr used different terms for some of the elements, and the element of Life is the Normal element.

Last thing, I think I'll wait until Monday to post chapter 6. Just to keep you in suspense. :-)

~Miss-Ashley: No, I don't mind. The more the merrier!


	6. Continuation

Disclaimer: Pokémon and its characters are not mine, but I do own this story.

A/N: Just so that you don't complain of inconsistencies: At the time of writing, (in the series here) Ash is still training before entering the Orange League, and I have only watched the first three movies.

Anyway, I've decided to set this story some time after the 3rd movie, and after Ash parted with Squirtle (I don't know when he did that)

**Ch. 6 – Continuation**

It was the day after Sakhr had revealed the Earth Shrine to the Chosen one. The Guardian sat on the floor, cross-legged, waiting patiently. They should be arriving right about…

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

…now.

Ash stumbled through the wall dragging Misty and Brock along and sending Pikachu tumbling off his shoulder, just like before.

"_Why_ must that… that _thing_… chase us each time we come into the mountain?" Misty complained.__

Sakhr laughed. "Don't worry, my friends. The Sentinel Rhydon is just doing its duty to keep those scientists and other people from meddling too much in the Shrine. But in this case and yesterday, it was just trying to send you in here. Besides, you are the Chosen One, it would never hurt you. You also receive certain… benefits… from the world with your status."

"_Benefits?!_" Ash spluttered. "I almost got killed two days ago!" Brock didn't flinch for Ash had already told him about what happened and how he lost his jacket.

"I had no control over what happened, and I'm not completely sure why it did that…" Sakhr said thoughtfully. "However, you _are_ still alive…"

"I'm only alive 'cause Togepi saved me!" Ash said stated.

Sakhr stood up and walked over to Misty. He gently took the egg Pokémon from her and looked at it closely. Togepi trilled cheerfully at him, unlike the time when Ash and Brock first tried to take it as their own Pokémon.

"This little one will become a powerful Pokémon," he said. "There is currently only one of it alive. The rest are still in their eggs, not yet ready to hatch. I cannot see what its future is, for there has been no Prophecy about it…" he trailed off and handed Togepi back to Misty.

"You know all the prophecies?" Ash asked with interest.

"Yes. The realm of Time is not stable, but the Prophecies foretell many events. They are not in any language, but are 'sensed' by chosen seers. All major events will be foreseen many millennia before their occurrence, and due to the changing world, they may not be understood until the actual event takes place. The most recent example of this is the Prophecy concerning disruption of the elemental balance.

"The last sentence, 'lest the world turn to Ash', was confusing. We thought that it meant that the world will crumble. The previous Chosen One would still be young during the happenings told by that Prophecy, except that he mysteriously vanished. You, Ash Ketchum, were born immediately after we sensed the disappearance, and became the new Chosen One."

"Wow…" Ash didn't know what to say.

"And… speaking of prophecies, we are worried." Sakhr said with a frown. "The power of Darkness seems to have gotten considerably stronger over the past few days. This usually means bad news, yet there is no Prophecy which mentions anything happening anytime soon."

"When is the next Dark activity supposed to happen?" Misty asked.

"That, I am not allowed to tell you. It is not during your lifetime nor are you Seers, so that knowledge cannot be revealed to you." Sakhr replied.

"Why not?" Brock was curious.

"There are many things in this world you don't understand," the Guardian said. "We, the Guardians of the High Elements, are best described as demi-gods, but there is also much we ourselves do not know. The world only reveals what it deems necessary."

"Oh…" the three of them said in unison.

"However, I _am_ allowed to let you know that the trainer whom you fought two days ago has Dark signatures around him, though he does not seem to be aware of it. His Pokémon are also severely tainted, which is why the Sentinel Rhydon dealt so much damage to them."

"Well, dark or not, I can still beat them!" Ash said with zeal.

Sakhr smiled. "Would you like a battle?"

Ash's face lit up immediately. "Would I?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu echoed Ash's enthusiasm.

"Very well," the Guardian said, straightening himself. He waved his hand and the familiar pattern of a Pokémon battlefield appeared on the floor. He and Ash walked into their boxes while Misty and Brock shouted encouraging words at Ash.

"Let's make this one-on-one, shall we?" Sakhr said with a slightly unGuardian-like grin. "I choose Terraneon!"

A lump of the ground rose up until it was about the height of Ash's lower chest. It then quickly developed the features of a brown-coloured, rough-skinned, four-legged creature which looked a lot like a fox. Ash took out his Pokédex but it didn't reveal any information.

"What _is_ that?!" He asked.

"It's an evolved Eevee." Sakhr informed him. "It does not use an elemental stone to evolve. Instead, it changes when it has stayed underground for a long time. They are very rare as Eevee usually don't go underground. There is one evolution of every element for the Eevee. You just need to know how to get them to change."

"Very interesting, but we'll beat it! Go for it, Pikachu!" Ash called out. Pikachu gladly obliged and stepped out, his face reflecting Ash's determination.

"Ash, Pikachu is weak against ground-types!" Brock shouted.

"We can beat anything!" Ash said confidently. "Pikachu, use your Agility!"

Pikachu started circling the strange new Pokémon with ever-increasing speed. Soon, the electric rodent was nothing but a lightning-fast blur, yet the Terraneon just sat there calmly.

"Ground Manipulation!" Sakhr commanded.

The earth Pokémon concentrated hard to follow Pikachu's location with its pitch-black eyes. A piece of the floor erupted upwards right in front of Pikachu, causing him to swerve suddenly to avoid slamming into the makeshift wall. As a result, he lost his speed.

"Pikachu, use your Tackle attack!" Ash shouted.

Obeying, Pikachu hurtled towards Terraneon, but his opponent nimble dodged.

"Compress!" The Guardian called out. Terraneon seemed to slightly shrink in size.

"Pikachu, Tackle again!" Ash urged him on.

"Pi… ka… CHU!" The yellow rodent ran straight at Terraneon and slammed into it. The attack sent Terraneon rolling away, but Pikachu also looked stunned from the impact.

"Alright, let's try a simple Take Down!" Sakhr commanded.

Terraneon decompressed itself and leapt at the still-dazed Pikachu. Having no time to dodge, he merely released a powerful Thunderbolt. The attack did little damage but managed to push Terraneon away. Ash cheered at this.

"Impressive," Sakhr admired. "But enough toying around. Terraneon, use your Fissure attack!"

Focusing its energy on the ground, the Pokémon created a deep crack in the floor. The kinetic energy hit Pikachu, who gave a final cry before getting knocked out.

Ash gasped and ran towards his yellow friend, also followed by Misty and Brock. "Pikachu! Are you all right?"

"Pika…" The little rodent weakly opened its eyes and gave a little nod.

"It's okay, you did great!" Ash told him.

"Indeed," Sakhr said, walking over. "That Thunderbolt was powerful enough to force away a ground-type Pokémon. Your Pikachu is very strong."

He then made the lines on the floor vanish and called up another bubbling pool. "Here, this spring should revitalize you."

Pikachu took a dip in the pool and instantly looked refreshed and relaxed. "Cha!" He smiled and laid back, enjoying himself.

The Guardian laughed. "I didn't quite mean for it to be a bath, but I suppose you could use it that way."

"Tell us more about the Terraneon," Brock requested with interest.

Sakhr beckoned for the earthen Pokémon to come over. It complied and sat in front of the Guardian, completely still.

"This Eevee evolution is just another ordinary Pokémon. It is just one of the several hundred others which humans have not yet discovered. The Terraneon tends to stay underground, but it performs just as well out in the open. There is not much else to say about it, though."

"What about the attacks it used?" Ash inquired.

"That, my friend, is a sign of advanced connections with the elements. A Pokémon can be trained to be highly attuned to its element, as well as others of opposing elements. Most Pokémon don't do that themselves. That is where a trainer can really help. You can try to teach your Pikachu a special power."

"Great!" Ash exclaimed. "C'mon Pikachu, try to do a more powerful attack!"

"Pikachu can attack fine. You should try a defensive move, instead." Sakhr advised him.

"Oh, okay…" Ash racked his brains for a while. "I know! Pikachu, try to build an electrical shield around yourself!"

"Pi?" The little Pokémon looked puzzled.

"You can do it! Just try to concentrate and keep the electricity from being released wildly." Ash encouraged his friend.

"Pika!" Pikachu gave a determined nod and climbed out of his little bath. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated hard. Sparks flew from his cheeks, chaotically at first, but soon formed a distinguishable sphere around him. Ash cheered him on as the field grew stronger, but then the sparks around his cheeks crackled louder and the field flickered dangerously.

Brock, Misty, Sakhr and Terraneon backed away at the sight of this. Brock started to call out, "Uh Ash, it doesn't look very stable. You probably shouldn't stand too—"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!" Pikachu couldn't hold it back anymore and released all the energy in a violent Thunder attack.

"—close." Brock finished lamely. Ash lay on the floor, smouldering. Everyone rushed over to help him.

"I'm okay…" he said groggily, standing up. "It's alright, you did great!" Ash told his Poképal, who was busily apologising.

"That was very good for a first try," Sakhr complimented Pikachu. "With a few more practices, your shield should be perfect. Terraneon, show them your electric attack!"

Terraneon turned its head upwards and its eyes glowed yellow. The air above it crackled to life as yellow sparks danced around. Several seconds later, there was a ball of concentrated energy. The Pokémon suddenly snapped its head downwards and the ball flew towards the wall and fizzled. Everyone stared in awe.

"Wow, I wouldn't mind having a Pokémon like that…" Ash marvelled.

The Guardian smiled. "This Terraneon admires your abilities as a trainer—" Upon hearing this, Ash grinned widely at Misty, who rolled her eyes. "—but will only agree to follow you if you manage to catch it though battling."

"Reminds me of how I got Bulbasaur," Ash piped. "So, Terraneon, you wanna battle?"

The quiet Pokémon suddenly leapt backwards and assumed fighting stance, its eyes alert.

"Alright, go Bulbasaur!" Ash threw the Pokéball and the plant Pokémon appeared. "Use your Vine Whip!"

"Bulba!" Twin vines raced towards Terraneon. It summoned a wall which blocked Bulbasaur's vines. The wall crumbled, but Terraneon was untouched.

The earth Pokémon countered with a chain of erupting earth, making it seem like a Dugtrio was tunnelling underneath.

"Look out!"

Bulbasaur leapt away right before a particularly sharp bit of earth sprouted out at the spot where it was. Without giving its opponent time to recover, Terraneon fired its powerful legs and flew towards Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, use your Leech Seed!"

When Terraneon crashed into Bulbasaur, a seed popped out from the grass Pokémon's bulb and embedded itself in Terraneon's underbelly. The two Pokémon broke apart, both looking woozy. Ash threw a Pokéball at Terraneon, who was then engulfed in a beam of light and disappeared into the Pokéball.

"Alright! I caught Terraneon!" Ash exclaimed happily and did his pose. The others cheered as well. "Great job, Bulbasaur!"

"Congratulations, Chosen One." Sakhr said. "Take good care of it."

"I will!" Ash replied readily.

"Unless you wish to explore some more, there is nothing else in the Shrine that is of interest. Would you like to continue your journey now?" The Guardian asked the trio. After some discussion, they decided to move on.

"I'll go back to the Pokémon Centre to check out," Brock announced. No sooner than the words came out of his mouth, the entrance appeared in the wall.

"Do you mean check out Nurse Joy?" Misty called after him. He chose to ignore the comment and went inside.

"So, where is the Ancient Steelix?" Ash questioned while waiting for Brock to return.

"It is resting," Sakhr informed him. "It may not come out unless of dire need."

"Oh…" Ash said. He tried to think. Something didn't sound quite right. But what?

"Okay guys, let's go!" After a few minutes, Brock reappeared, carrying their bags.

"No need," The Guardian said. "Here's a shortcut." He straightened his body and spread out his arms. A bright blue, swirling vortex appeared. "This will lead you to wherever you want to go."

Waving goodbye, the trio and Pikachu stepped into the vortex, with Ash last in line. He had one last question.

"Can't you give me any hints on where the other Shrines are?"

"I have provided hints in yesterday's story," Sakhr told him. "There is not much more I can say. Good luck, Chosen One."

"Oh, okay." Ash said, slightly disappointed. "Goodbye!"

With that, he stepped inside the vortex. The last thing he heard before a loud roaring overcame him was, "…and by the way, you've already met another Guardian!"

* * * * *

Ash found himself lying on the grass. "Tricky fellow!" he exclaimed. He told the others about what Sakhr said.

"Who could that be?" Misty wondered.

"Hey, what's that?" Ash asked.

"What's what?" Brock turned around but saw nothing.

"I saw a bright flash coming from over there…" Ash stated.

"Must've been the sun," Misty said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, where are we?" Ash asked suddenly. This question hit every one of them. Sakhr had said that the vortex would take them to where they wanted to go, but they didn't exactly plan that yet.

"Um… in a forest?" Brock offered lamely.

"Only one way to find out!" Ash immediately marched off towards the spot of the glinting object.

He stopped short when a large Venusaur stomped out of nowhere and placed itself in his path.

"Wow, it's huge!" Brock exclaimed.

Why, thank you. A deep 'voice' rang in their heads.

"Whaaa?!!/Pikaaa?!!"

Do not be so surprised, Chosen One. I have been around for a long, long time, after all.

"Is this the… uh… Plant Shrine?" Ash inquired immediately.

Ha ha ha ha ha… The Venusaur laughed heartily with a sort of smile on its face. No, the Plant element is not a High Element. However, this is a significant elemental place.

"Can we explore?" Ash asked eagerly.

The Venusaur's expression grew sober. I am sorry, the… time… is not right. As much as I regret to do so, I must ask you to leave this area.

"Hey, he made a pun!" Misty said jokingly. "_Leave_ this area!"

This earned her a piercing glare from the Venusaur. She immediately shrank back in fear.

Please do as I tell you. I currently have… other matters to attend to. With that, the colossal Pokémon trudged away into the think woods.

Seizing the opportunity, Ash continued his search even though Pikachu was pulling on his trouser leg, asking him to leave.

"Ash, I don't think you should be doing this…" Brock said worriedly.

"Relax, what could possibly go wrong?" Ash replied.

They came upon a green marble column which was about four feet high. On top was a golden pedestal, approximately ten centimetres thick. A perfectly round socket was in the centre.

"What _is_ this?" Ash wondered.

Stubbornness and disobedience are undesirable traits.

The trio and Pikachu spun around and saw the Venusaur, looking displeased.

Since you have refused to depart willingly… the large Pokémon trailed off. Within moments, a large swarm of Beedrill appeared.

"Uh oh…" Three voices said together

In a blink of an eye, all four of them were screaming and running blindly, the Beedrill right behind them.

They ran for about five minutes, and during that time the word 'tiredness' wasn't in their vocabulary.

"YAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Brock screamed as he suddenly plunged downwards.

"What?" It took Ash a while to realize that the floor was suddenly several metres below, and then he joined Brock at the bottom of the ledge; Pikachu followed and crashed onto Brock a split-second later.

An ear-piercing scream filled the air as Misty, too, saw the drop too late. Togepi flew out of her arms and the both of them plummeted. As quick as a flash, Pikachu got on his feet and hurried over to catch Togepi. Misty on the other hand, landed on top of Ash.

"Ow…" Ash groaned. "Lose some weight, Mist." One look at her face told him that this was a big mistake.

"What. Did. You. Say?" Misty was glaring daggers at him, while Brock and Pikachu stood at the side, ready to pull them apart or bolt, depending on what happens.

"Uh… I meant… that is… you're not heavy at all! You're pretty scrawny… I mean…" Ash gave up trying to cover up and ran for his life.

"AAAAAAASSSHHH KEEEEETTCHUUUUUUUUUUMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Screaming bloody murder, Misty pursued him in a vengeance hunt, mallet swinging wildly.

The other two sweat-dropped.

"Do you think we're actually completely wrong about those two being together?" Brock asked Pikachu as he saw yet another tall shrub collapse.

"Pika pi…" The little yellow Pokémon merely sighed.

*********

A/N: Another chapter up! I hope I'll finish the next one by next week. My daily schedule is pretty tight at the moment.

~Artic Winds: Sorry, you didn't get any of them right. I've practically given the answer for one of them in this chapter though.

~Silverclaw: Sure you can use it. Please give me the credit, though. BTW, give me the link to your story, will ya?


	7. Moonlit River

Disclaimer: Pokémon and its characters are not mine, but I do own this story.

A/N: ::crawls out of tomb:: I'm alive!!! looks around *ahem* Anyway, here's another shorter, fluffy chapter. Enjoy!

**Ch. 7 – Moonlit River**

How can ALL of the roads be closed?! Brock demanded exasperatedly.

Ash and co. had found themselves near Vermillion City after wandering around for a while. Ash had stopped there and sent Snorlax over to Professor Oak to make room for Terraneon, which was just as well since the Professor had received a fruit new plant from another scientist which just might be able to grow fast enough to keep up with a Snorlax's appetite. Ash's Snorlax would be able to help the Professor in his research while enjoying itself.

After that, Ash decided to head over Pallet Town. At Misty's request, the tried to avoid Cerulean City but all the other roads out of Vermillion were closed for repairs.

Sorry bout that, but there's nuthin we can do, the worker stated. Seems like a group of Diglett decided to pass through all of the roads except that one. Anyway, you CAN reach Pallet through Cerulean.

Aw, it won't be THAT bad, Misty! Ash reassured her. We'll just go right through and avoid the gym.

Well, okay she said reluctantly.

It wasn't very long after the group went into the city before a familiar voice made Misty cringe.

Hey, isn't that, like, our little sister? someone exclaimed excitedly.

Oh no! Misty panicked and frantically looked around for an escape route, but the Sensational Sisters had caught up to them.

Hey there, Misty! Daisy greeted her, putting down her load of shopping bags. It's been, like, soooo long since the last time you came here!

Violet piped. You were soooo amazing at the underwater ballet! Until today, people are still talking about it! You're, like, a famous star!

Uh, thanks Misty said warily. _Why are they saying such nice things about me?'_

Anyway, you came at SUCH a wonderful time! Lily said. We were just planning another ballet—

_Oh, so THAT's why!' _ she interrupted. Ash has an uh important errand to run. Can't stay, sorry! Bye! Misty proceeded to drag Ash and Brock away.

Oh, I see, Violet said mischievously. You to spend some time with your boyfriend! We understand.

SHE/HE IS **NOT** MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND!!! Ash and Misty yelled indignantly.

Brock suddenly went into a sneezing fit. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. Something fluttered onto the floor as he did that.

Whoops, dropped something! he said after stopping his sneezes, making to effort to retrieve it.

Lily bent down and picked it up. She took one look at it and gave a loud squeal. She showed the piece of paper to the other two and they instantly did the same.

Curious, Ash plucked the item from Lily's fingers and looked at it. His eyes widened in horror as he recognized the picture of him and Misty sleeping peacefully on the couch back at the Warped Mountain.

Ash stood there, staring at the picture. He was only snapped out of his trance by the sound of running feet and Brock shouting.

Her figure could be seen racing away from them, into the heart of the city.

Misty, wait! Ash dropped the photo and ran after her.

* * * * *

C'mon Ash, that's one of your favourite dishes! Why won't you eat? Brock said pleadingly, although he pretty much knew the answer.

After two whole hours of searching fruitlessly, Brock had managed to convince Ash that Misty would be okay, and persuaded him to go back to the Cerulean Gym. Ash was already giving Brock the silent treatment, and to make things worse, they had found a note written by Misty at the doorstep. She said she just wanted to spend some time alone, but would be coming back.

They were currently seated around the gym's dining table with Pikachu and the Sensational Sisters, but Ash was merely staring at his food.

Aw, cut it out already! Daisy said irritably. It's not that she's, like, running away or anything

Ash looked at her incredulously. She doesn't even understand her own sister! A horrible thought suddenly formed in his head. What if Misty really _had_ run away?

He stood up abruptly and dashed out of the room.

Ash, wait— Brock started.

Just let him go. He'll be okay. Daisy said nonchalantly and continued chatting with her sisters.

Brock looked unsure but sighed and then returned to his meal.

Outside, Ash leaned against the wall, panting heavily. He looked downwards when he felt something tugging his trouser leg.

Hey Pikachu, watcha doing out here?

his furry friend looked at him worriedly.

You don't think you don't think Misty's run away, do you? Ash asked slightly fearfully.

Pika pika! Pikachu shook his head firmly.

Ash smiled gratefully. You're right, she wouldn't do that. I guess Brock just upset her a bit, that's all. Maybe I should just wait here for her to come back

The little Pokémon exclaimed obstinately.

Then what should I do?

Pika pika, Pikachu pointed towards a nearby river.

Ash said uncertainly. How do you know?

The yellow rodent trailed off mysteriously. Then, he gave Ash a small push, winking.

Hesitantly, Ash started off in the direction Pikachu pointed at. His pace increased and he broke into a run, calling Misty's name.

* * * * *

A red-haired girl sat by the moonlit riverbank, staring out at the still waters.

Why did I do that, Togepi? she asked the baby Pokémon in her arms. Why did I run like that?

Togepi looked up anxiously. It sensed that Mummy was troubled, and this made it worry.

Misty sighed and looked out at the river again, not really expecting an answer from Togepi. She had been sitting there for quite some time now, hiding. This river was the only thing she cared about in the entire city. She thought back at all the times she spent here when she was little, with no parents to take care of her, and her sisters were everything but kind to her. The river made her feel at peace.

She rocked gently back and forth, gazing at the distorted but beautiful reflection of the moon. Closing her eyes, she felt the cool breeze against her face. She slowly breathed in the night air while rocking little Togepi to sleep.

A short distance away within the trees, a boy with messy black hair looked at her silently, his heart racing.

_Move!!!'_ he mentally yelled at his legs, but they remained frozen in place. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, and then composed himself. Nervously, he stepped out from the undergrowth without a noise. Step by step, he moved towards Misty, yet she didn't notice him even when he was right next to her.

Ash said as gently as he could without sounding like a nervous wreck.

Misty leapt two feet up into the air and stared at him, wide-eyed.

Oh, h-hi, Ash she stuttered.

mind if I join you? he asked hesitantly.

go ahead she replied, shifting uncomfortably.

Ash sat down next to her. A moment of awkward silence passed between them before Ash spoke up.

where were you all this time?

Misty kept silent for a while before answering. around. I didn't go anywhere.

Resuming silence.

Here, I thought you might want some of these Ash pulled a container full of food from his pocket. He had managed to nick them from the gym.

Misty brightened slightly at this. Oh Ash I told you I'd be eating outside!

But did you?

no

Here, take them. Ash pushed the container towards her.

Thank you she accepted it gratefully. She tried to act casual, but it was clear that she was quite hungry.

Ash silently watched her eat. Suddenly, his own stomach gave a loud rumble.

Misty giggled. You can have the rest. I'm full enough.

without a second thought, he grabbed the last sandwich and wolfed it down ungraciously. Misty giggled again. Typical Ash.

Ash found himself blush slightly. Misty didn't giggle like that very often. He sorta liked it.

What's so funny? he demanded, pretending to be offended.

Nothing, you just look cutely stupid when you do that. Misty said, visibly turning red under the moonlight.

Ash drew in a breath sharply. Could it be? Had he misheard?

Alarmed, Misty started trying to cover up. that's not what I meant! You see—

Ash cut her off, becoming unusually solemn. He took a deep breath and said softly, No Misty, I'm I'm not upset. Just tell me What made you say that?

Misty looked away and bit her lip. She contemplated Ash's question and thought back at various events. Remember the incident back there when you were almost killed? She asked quietly. Ash nodded. I was so scared! I was afraid that I had lost you. I I love you, Ash! Misty finally broke down and started sobbing, overwhelmed by all-too-realistic and horrible memories.

Ash's eyes grew wide. Oh Misty he whispered, on the verge of tears also. He pulled her close, holding her tightly. The only sounds that could be heard were Misty's hushed sobs against Ash's chest and the wind ruffling the leaves. Gently, he pulled away slightly and gazed lovingly into her emotional cerulean eyes.

I love you too, Misty you'll never know how much

An unseen force drew them closer, the gap between their faces narrowed. In a synchronized motion, their eyes closed just as their lips met. Fireworks went off and bells rang loudly as the young couple shared the first kiss they had yearned for so long.

They slowly pulled apart after a while, their eyes shining with joy.

Suddenly, a crack was heard from somewhere in the bushes. Ash and Misty's heads whirled in the direction of the sound. In a trice, they were standing at either side of a very nervous Brock.

Give it to me Misty growled.

give what to you? Brock asked dumbly.

Misty whipped out her mallet and held it menacingly. Give it to me!

Brock cowered in fear and handed his camera to her. While Misty's guard was down, he fled for his life, breaking the world sprinting record.

What picture do you think he took this time? Misty asked rhetorically.

Ash pulled her into another passionate kiss which she gladly let herself melt into. They remained like that for a few minutes longer than the first.

Should we hunt him down? Misty asked, grinning, after they broke the kiss.

Nah, let's just enjoy the rest of the night Ash suggested.

Hand in hand, they walked back over to the river and sat down at the same spot. Misty lay her head on Ash's shoulder, gazing dreamily at the river and he put his arm protectively around her, pulling her closer. No words were said then, but they were unnecessary. They communicated through their hearts, oblivious of the rest of the world as they sat there, bathed in the moon's gentle light. Misty sighed happily. Yet another happy memory about this river. Maybe this city isn't so bad after all

*********

A/N: Whew, sorry for that HUGE delay! But I hope this chapter makes up for it :-) Aaaaaaaanyway, this is the first time I wrote something like this (not to mention that I don't exactly have any experience in this field) so I hope I do okay. Hope you don't mind I made Brock pop up there. Annoying, aren't I? :-) And while we're on the subject of hopes, I also hope that I can get the next chapter up soon. Well, as always, (even if I didn't explicitly say so) please review!


	8. Arrival

A/N: Wow, Miss Ashley hasn't screamed yet! :-D Aaaaanyway, sorry for the long delay. The previous week (including Saturday morning…) was full of nothing but exams… Spent the last two months studying but still couldn't cram all the information into my head… *sigh*… But at least I'll be more-or-less free for the rest of the year now.

**Ch. 8 – Arrival**

"'Pallet Town – 2 miles.'" Ash read. "See, I _told_ you I knew how to read a map!" He announced triumphantly. His companions rolled their eyes.

After many days of travelling, they are finally nearing their destination. They did stop at some places to say hi to friends.

Before they departed Cerulean City, Ash and Misty gave Brock a few moments of living hell until he was on his knees, begging for mercy. Violet tried to prevent Misty from leaving with the same 'wanting to be alone with Ash' reason. In response, the young couple gave each other a quick kiss. As the trio started down the road, their last glance at the three Sensational Sisters showed them with their jaws dangling, speechless.

They took the same route as the one they used when Ash first set off on his Pokémon journey. Terraneon made the trek through Mt. Moon a simple task, and they're finally at Viridian Forest. Ash and Misty still quarrelled over insignificant things, but they no longer ended up in the two of them trying to rip each other apart.

"Alright, let's go!" Ash exclaimed and started walking.

"Uh… Ash, the arrow's pointing _that_ way…" Misty said, pointing at the opposite direction.

"Oh, hehehe…" Embarrassed, Ash turned around and took the correct path, closely followed by Pikachu at his heels and Misty behind him.

Shaking his head, Brock trailed behind them.

* * * * *

"Hey mom, I'm back!" Ash called out cheerfully as he burst through the door. But before his mind could register the exact position of his mother, he was wrapped in a powerful bear hug.

"Oh Ash, why didn't you tell me you're coming home?" Delia asked delightedly. "I would've prepared a huge Welcome Home dinner!"

"Uh… nice offer mom, but not so tight please?" Ash wheezed, gasping for air.

"If you still plan on doing it, I'd be glad to help, Mrs. Ketchum." Brock offered politely.

"Thank you Brock, you're always so helpful. It's nice to see you again," She released her son, who collapsed onto the floor. "And you too, Misty." She added. "And Pikachu, and Togepi."

"Pika!"

"Togi! Togi!"

Misty smiled politely and returned the greeting, but was feeling rather strange inside. She loved Mrs. Ketchum, but when she saw the mother and son together that time, she felt a wave of pain from long ago, almost forgotten, emerge again.

_'Why am I feeling like this? I've never felt like this during my previous visits…'_

While she was still lost in thought, Delia and Brock headed to the kitchen and Pikachu followed them to hunt for ketchup.

Misty went out to the garden and sat down on the bench. The beautiful flowers took her mind away from the past, and allowed her to relax a bit.

"Misty?"

The redhead jumped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" she exclaimed, annoyed.

Ash scratched his head. "Um… I was just walking normally…"

"Oh, sorry… I just have a lot on my mind…" she apologized, feeling regretful for her outburst.

Ash shrugged nonchalantly and sat down next to her. "It's okay. Watcha thinking about?"

"Nothing of interest…" she mumbled. _'Liar!'_

"You look pretty bothered by something uninteresting…" Ash said, looking at her closely.

"Since when did you become so observant?" Misty asked humorously, trying to change the subject.

"A Pokémon master must always be alert…" Ash started, but caught himself. He shook his head. "No, something's bothering you. C'mon, you can tell me…"

_'Please don't make me think about it…'_ Misty bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. She took a deep breath. "Id… rather not talk about it…"

"Well, okay…" Ash sighed and got up to leave. He understood that she has some personal matters she might not want to tell anyone, but he couldn't help feeling a bit hurt. Didn't she trust him?

Misty got alarmed at Ash's expression. "Wait Ash, don't take it that way!"

"No, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to…"

"Well… I guess I'd have to tell someone sooner or later…" Misty said pensively.  "It's just that… well… I never got the chance to know my parents…"

At those words, Ash felt guilty for trying to get her to reveal something like that. He sat down again. He started slowly, "If it's any comfort to you, I never got to know my dad, either…"

"Oh?" Misty remarked half-heartedly. She didn't want to stay on the topic, but Ash continued anyway.

"I think something horrible happened to him…" he said, becoming distant as well. "Once, when I was small, I was awakened in the middle of the night. There was a noise coming from my mom's room. I went over to check, she was having a nightmare.

"I can't remember what she said, but she was calling my dad's name. I wasn't able to get her to talk about it… she just became quiet and depressed when I tried, so I just let it drop…"

"Oh Ash… I'm sorry…" Misty said quietly.

Ash smiled weakly. "The past is the past. There's nothing we can do to change it…"

It was Misty's turn to recount her story. "I don't know what happened to my dad, either…" she started sadly. "He just… vanished right before my first birthday. Mom couldn't take it… she fell seriously ill…"

At this point, her tears started cascading down her cheeks. Ash pulled her into a hug and gave her a shoulder to cry on. He glanced down at her sadly. _'Why do these things happen?'_ he wondered. For a while, he wished that he could also cry freely like that.

After some time, the sobbing gradually stopped but Misty did not pull away. She felt safe there, in his arms.

"Nobody told me about it, either…" she continued in a hushed voice. "I found my mom's diary when I was exploring the attic."

Ash remained silent. He was out of things to say, and didn't really know how to respond. But Misty didn't mind, she was content enough to be near Ash and to forget about her troubled past.

* * * * *

"Urgh… I can't move…" Ash groaned, lying on the table.

He had just finished his umpteenth serving of his dinner. Delia and Brock had made a magnificent feast with a little help from Mimey. Everyone enjoyed themselves tremendously, and Ash and Misty forgot about the forlornness of their earlier conversation.

"Ash, you really should watch what you give that stomach of yours…" Misty sighed while feeding little Togepi.

"Don't worry, he's still a growing boy!" Mrs. Ketchum said cheerily. "Come on Ash, have the rest of the food!" This earned another loud groan from him.

"Yeah, growing until he can't fit through the doorway…" Brock commented.

"Well, I guess even growing boys have limits," Delia said. "Come help me clear the table, Mimey!"

"Mr. Mime!" The hardworking Pokémon immediately set to work.

"You okay, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, just give me about an hour to digest…"

"Well, okay. Just stay there until you can walk." She said nonchalantly. Then she, along with Mrs. Ketchum, sweat-dropped as they watched Brock and Mimey quarrelling over who gets to wash the dishes.

* * * * *

Everybody was lounging lazily in the living room. Outside, a torrent of rain kept them from visiting Professor Oak like they wanted to, so they played a few indoor games. Pikachu joined as well.

"I win again!" Misty announced happily. Everyone else groaned and threw down their cards.

"Let's play something else," Ash suggested.

"What's the matter, Ash? Scared of losing again?" Misty teased him.

"No, I'm just getting bored, that's all!" Ash retorted defensively. Brock gave a loud cough which sounded like 'soreloser'.

"Hey Pikachu, why don't you show mom your newest trick?" Ash suggested brightly.

"Uh… is that a good idea?" Brock questioned nervously, remembering what had happened back at the mountain.

"No problem! We've been training a lot, haven't we, Pikachu?"

"Pika Pika!"

"Okay Pikachu, do your stuff!" Ash directed enthusiastically.

Pikachu closed his eyes and focused his mind. Sparks began to fly from his cheeks. Everyone gazed with wonder at the ball of electricity he made fly around the room in a distinct pattern without showing any strain.

"Y'know, this reminds me of the battle with Sabrina's Kadabra…" Brock commented.

"Hey Pikachu, do you think you can make it form a shape?" Ash asked excitedly.

"Pika…" the ball fizzled and the little Pokémon looked at Ash slightly doubtfully.

After some encouragement, he squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated hard. Everybody watched admiringly at the dragon he managed to form…

* * * * *

Some distance away, a figure sat in the darkness, illuminated only by an unnatural, dark flame behind him. He sensed Pikachu's power. Though slightly startled, he felt no fear, only fierce determination.

"He is stronger than I expected…"

*********

A/N: I know this isn't very long especially after the long gap between updates, but I wanted to get this up as soon as I could. Started writing as soon as I had time, but I'm not exactly the fastest story-spinner around… Sorry for the lack of AAMR in this chapter, but there will be an… um… 'interactive' part coming up in a few days (I promise to get it up quickly!)

~Miss-Ashley: Um… the story is more about… well… a story. The romance is just something I threw in as extras. But, I think I'll start work on an AAMR fic soon.


	9. Return

Disclaimer: I don't own the registered Pokémon stuff, but this story and some of its characters are my creations.

A/N: I was going to add an interactive part by playing around with colours, but somehow it wouldn't work inside ff.net. Oh well…

*********

**Ch. 9 – Return**

Brock, Mrs. Ketchum and Mimey had gone out to do some shopping. Ash and Misty were at home, watching television. Or rather, Ash was begging Misty to let him have the TV.

"C'mon, Misty! That's _my_ television!" he whined.

"Ash, the Pokémon Trainer's Guide show stopped their production even before you got your license!" Misty argued. "You've been watching the same reruns for who knows how long already!"

After several more minutes of bickering, Ash finally gave in. He sat there grumpily, arms folded, staring into space. Pikachu tried to talk to him, but failed.

He glanced sideways at Misty after a while. _'How come I always end up doing what she wants these day?'_ he questioned himself. _'Well, okay, so I like her, and she always seems to be right. But I still don't understand why she likes soap operas that much…'_

Misty was totally engrossed the show. It was like everything on screen was happening in reality. She grinned slightly when something she liked happened, and grimaced when someone did something obviously stupid.

Ash was stubbornly telling himself that he hated soap operas and would never watch one, but couldn't help getting absorbed by the show. It currently displayed a couple taking a walk on a moonlit beach. Then, their arms were wrapped around each other and they were involved in, according to Ash's opinion, what suddenly became the most interesting activity. Soon, he unwittingly found himself staring at Misty's lips.

Misty watched on, her mind wandering. The flowing, blonde hair of the girl in the screen shortened and turned bright orange, and the guy's neat, brownish hair became spiky and jet-black. A dreamy look came over her face as she became immersed in her reverie. Suddenly, her mind snapped back to reality and she became aware that Ash was staring at her.

She tensed up, wondering what he was doing. Her eyes looked straight ahead, but she was focusing on Ash. Finally, she turned to face him with the intention of starting a conversation, but all words left her as she found herself lost in the depths of his large brown eyes.

The couple in the television were getting louder and louder. Ash and Misty drew closer and closer, not really conscious of what was happening. When their lips met, a jolt of electricity ran down their bodies, and their minds were completely oblivious to anything else happening around them.

Togepi watched with interest. Pikachu quickly covered the baby Pokémon's eyes and carried it to somewhere else in the house.

Their kiss at the river was gentle and sweet, but this one was more heated. Bells were ringing wildly in Ash's head — He never knew that this level of pleasure was even possible.

The two lovers slowly leaned to one side of the sofa, with Misty on top of Ash. By chance, her knee pressed on a button on the remote, switching off the TV. Now, the two of them have no influence from the distracting sounds of the show, and are acting from their own hearts. 

After some time, Ash pulled away for a while. "Wow…" he gasped, seeing stars. "Mist, you're good!"

"Oh, that was nothing. You just wait…" she replied impishly. She captured his lips with her own again, being more adventurous with her tongue this time.

Ash's mind exploded with ecstasy. He found himself in cloud nine, completely giddy. Not wanting to be the inexperienced one, he tried to do the same to Misty and found that he was actually quite good at it.

They were having the most wonderful time of their lives, and were starting to moan softly. They felt like they could just stay like that forever, but…

**_CRASH_**

Having rolled to one side too much, Ash and Misty fell onto the floor, a tangle of arms and legs.

"I love you, Misty…" Ash mumbled, still lost in the seventh heaven.

"I love you too, Ash…" she mumbled in reply, in the same dreamy state.

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking at the door. "Hello? Somebody open the door for us please?" (A/N: Man, I'm good at ruining these moments :-D)

Misty silently screamed in fury. Brock's timing couldn't have been worse. She tried to get up, but her whole body had turned to jelly and she seemed to have forgotten how to operate her limbs.

"Uh… hold on a minute!" she mustered her strength and called out as clearly as she could.

"Ash, can you get up?" she asked urgently, with a distorted tone. "Brock's home!"

"Huh? Rock?" he muttered, a goofy grin still plastered to his face. Then, he realized what she had said, just ever so slightly. "Oh, you mean Brock!"

"Wait for a while, K?" he shouted loudly in a severely slurred voice.

Outside, Brock set down the shopping bags next to Mr. Mime. He scratched his head, puzzled. Suddenly, something in his mind clicked. His jaw fell open in shock. Before he knew what he was doing, he started banging on the door like a madman.

"Hey w-wait a minute! Aren't you two a bit too young to be doing that?!"

Those words threw ice-cold water over Misty's mind. Her previous scattyness was completely gone and she was instantly able to move again. Red-faces, she flung open the door and flattened Brock with her mallet. Mimey retreated in alarm.

"WE WEREN'T DOING _THAT_, YOU PINHEAD!!!!!"

Brock cowered in a corner, stammering apologies. Finally, Misty allowed him into the house.

When he stepped inside, Ash was still sprawled on the floor with his goofy grin. "What's all the commotion about?" he asked, his voice still garbled.

Misty went completely red in the face again, this time not of anger but the feeling like she was going to die from embarrassment. She picked Ash up by his collar and shook him hard.

"Huh? What happened?" he asked, looking around in confusion. His eyes landed on a very amused Brock. His face went red as well. "Oh, hi there Brock…"

"So, what were…" Brock would have dearly loved to ask what they _were_ doing, but one look at Misty told him that it would be fatal. "So, when are you going to tell your mom about this?"

"Uh…"

"Um…"

"Hey, where is my mom anyway?" Ash quickly changed the subject.

"She saw some great bargains at the shop and told us to come home first," Brock told him, hiding a large grin. "Come on Mimey, gotta get these stuff sorted out." He hurried to the kitchen with Mimey behind him, still staring at the couple in perplexity. 

"Pika pi…"

Ash looked down and saw his furry friend shaking his head.

"Not you too…"

* * * * *

Later during the day, the trio paid Professor Oak a visit.

"Here we are!" Brock said, ringing the doorbell.

The door opened, revealing Tracey in a lab coat. He stared at them in surprise but ushered them in.

"Professor, guess who's back?" he yelled upstairs.

The group arrived at the top and saw Professor Oak sitting at his computers, working on the GS Ball.

"Ash! Misty! Brock! Aren't you supposed to be in Johto?" he exclaimed.

The trio took turns to tell him about the Earth Shrine, and the talking Venusaur. The Professor and Tracey listened with great interest.

"Yes, I think I remember hearing stories about Pokémon temples when I was a child…" Professor Oak said thoughtfully. "My memory's not very good now, but there was something about birds and snakes… or was it dragons?"

"The Steelix is like a snake," Brock supplied helpfully. "Maybe it's about the forms of the creatures or something?"

"But Sakhr is the Guardian of the Earth Shrine, and he's human," Ash reasoned.

"Wait, I remember something else," Professor Oak said. "There's a song. It goes like this:

_The Chosen One has missions great,  
Yet the world can choose his fate.  
Guardians of the Earth and Fire,  
Appear only when the need is dire.  
Guardians of the Sky and Sea,  
May choose to guide, or leave him be._

Unless the poem is wrong, the Guardian of the Earth wouldn't appear to you, or… Were you in any sort of danger then?"

"Well, no… but he said something about Darkness…" Ash frowned.

"Guardians of the Sky and Sea…" Tracey repeated slowly. He suddenly realized something. "Guardian of the Sea!" he gave a loud exclamation.

The others gaped at him.

"You don't think…?" Misty questioned.

"Yes! It makes sense! The first time, some collector was disrupting the harmony of the elements. And Ash, the Chosen One, had to return things to normal. Maybe something big is coming up!"

"But… Sakhr told us that nothing else is happening within our lifetime. There is no prophecy about anything happening soon, whereas the ceremony of retrieving the orbs have been going on for a long time…" Misty said uneasily.

"Tracey and I will do more research on ancient legends and prophecies," Professor Oak said decisively. He smiled at his young assistant. "Tracey is very good at observations. He discovered and mapped the strange energy field that surrounds the GS Ball."

Tracey looked as if he would burst with pride.

Professor Oak showed them one of his computer screens which showed a model of the GS Ball, with many wavy patterns around it. "This energy field is very large and strong, yet it can only be detected when the most powerful sensors are placed right next to it. We have not yet discovered its purpose."

He turned back to the trio. "In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea to seek out Lugia. Do you have any Pokémon that can take you back to the Orange Islands?"

All three of them shook their heads.

The Professor beckoned to them to follow him. He led them to the large fields that contained the Pokémon that were sent to him. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. Out of nowhere, a large creature swooped down from the sky and started attacking him.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ash shouted immediately.

"Piiiiiiikaaaaaaa…" sparks started shooting from Pikachu's cheeks, but he suddenly stoped.

"Pikachu, what are you doing?" Ash demanded.

"Pika pika!" the yellow rodent pointed at the large bird, trying to tell Ash something.

By then, the bird had calmed down. Professor Oak got up and straightened his attire.

"This Pidgeot came from nowhere two days ago. Tried to tell me something, but I couldn't understand it. Got irritated about something and wouldn't leave me alone. It—"

"Pidgeot!" Ash exclaimed suddenly. He rushed at the Pokémon and hugged it.

Professor Oak blinked. "Is it yours?"

"Hey, we left it in the forest to protect the Pidgeys from the Spearow and Fearow!" Brock said in recognition.

Just then, one of Ash's Pokéballs burst open and released Bulbasaur. He, along with Pikachu, greeted their old friend.

Ash looked up at Pidgeot. "Did you come back to look for me?" Pidgeot gave a loud squawk in reply.

"But… I don't have anymore space here…" Ash said apprehensively.

"Bulba! Bulba!"

Ash looked down. "What is it, Bulbasaur?"

"I think he's volunteering to stay here to let Pidgeot join you," Brock suggested. Bulbasaur nodded.

"Well, if you're sure…" Ash gave his loyal Pokémon a hug. He took Bulbasaur's Pokéball. "Pidgeot… return!" The large bird vanished in a red flare.

He turned to the Professor. "You think I can use Pidgeot to fly to the Water Shrine?"

The older man shook his head. "You'll need something that is at home in the water. Come, I'll lend you one."

They headed out to the rivers, and Bulbasaur happily vanished into the lush grassland.

Suddenly, Misty spotted something. "Hey, look!"

Far off, a large creature was making its way towards them. It looked out of place on land.

"Not another one!" Professor Oak groaned.

"It's Lapras!" Ash cried out happily.

"What's gonna appear next? The rest of your released Pokémon?" Brock asked incredulously.

They hurried over to Lapras, who was pulling itself along on its flippers.

"Where's the rest of your family?" Ash asked anxiously.

Lapras didn't reply and merely signalled that Ash should climb on.

"Maybe Lugia sent it here…" Professor Oak suggested.

"Is that it?" Ash enquired. "You're here to take me to the Water Shrine?"

Lapras nodded.

Professor Oak put Lapras in a Pokéball. The group followed the flipper trail to the sea and released the Pokémon into the water.

"Have a safe journey you three," the Professor bade them goodbye. Not long thereafter, the shore was no longer visible.

"Wow, Lapras's back is more spacious now," Ash commented admiringly. "You've grown so much!"

"Yeah, I agree," Misty said, lying on her back, playing with Togepi.

"I can't say anything about that since I've never been on a Lapras before…" Brock said, "But this feels great!"

Lapras sang its haunting song in a cheerful manner.

The trio simply lay there, enjoying their ride. Suddenly, a roaring could be heard, and it kept getting louder.

"What the—?"

That was all that was uttered, before everyone got sucked down the swirling vortex of the raging whirlpool.

*********

A/N: I have no idea where the GS Ball is supposed to be, so I sent it back to Pallet. BTW, I started work on another fic. It should be out in a day or two. Stay tuned!


	10. a n n o u n c e m e n t

I was hoping to at least get chapter 10 up before I do dormant, but I was too busy... Lots of practices for presentations, and general lazing when Christmas was approaching... :-) Also, there's an important exam coming up this October, and I don't even have much time for my own personal stuff anymore. I won't be posting anything until the end of the exam.  
  
Send me an email if you wish to be contacted when I finally do get the next part of the story up.  
  
Sorry for the long wait I caused...  
  
~Axfangli 


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